Blind Luck
by Hyena Cub
Summary: The future of worlds may depend on one lynx. (R rating is for a rape scene, which is vague and non-explicit)
1. Chapter 1

**Blind Luck**

This is a story starring my favorite ThunderCat, Lynx-O, although Cheetara and Pumyra both play surprisingly large roles towards the end, and most of the ThudnerCat characters have a part heheh. Also surprisingly, there aren't any Lunattacks... 

1 

"LYYYYNX-OOOO!" came the screeching, harried, I-am-a-second-away-from-panicking voice from the lower level of the Tower. A little startled, Lynx-O turned away from his Braille board at the sound of four small feet running up the stairs. "Lynx-O!" Snarfer wailed. "The pipes broke down there, and the lower level's flooded!" 

Lynx-O let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. He turned his sightless eyes to where he normally would have been making eye contact with the young Snarf. He had been without his eyes for a long time now, but had gone many, many more years with it, and was still in the habit of making eye contact, even if he could no longer do so. "Easy, Snarfer, it can be fixed," he said to his young friend. "You can't overreact so much over little things, Snarfer, you had me worried. I thought we were under attack, or that you had gotten badly injured." 

Snarfer's ears folded down. "Sorry, Lynx-O..." he said in a quieter tone. "But there's a foot of water down there! I mean all the plumbing just...busted!" 

"All right, did you turn off the water?" 

"Well yeah." 

"Then let's go down and fix it." Lynx-O smiled and started for the stairs. Lynx-O knew the Tower of Omens better than any building he had ever been in. He knew every turn, every distance, every doorway, every piece of furniture, all by estimation and touch, as well as hearing and smell. It was something he had learned to do since he lost his sight. He had had to in order to survive, and not be hopelessly dependent upon the others. 

Once down there, Lynx-O sighed. "All the plastic pipes," he said, feeling the damage. "I thought they were a bad idea. Snarfer, don't we have a bunch of metal pipes in the supply closet down here?" 

"Yessir, suuure do, yep! I'll get 'em, Lynx-O!" Snarfer ran off and returned with the pipes. "But we're short three of them." 

"That's all right. I can turn those off, and we can make a trip to Cats' Lair to see if they have any. If not, we'll have to go to the Wollo village perhaps to see if they have some for sale in their shops." 

Snarfer and Lynx-O finished their task in companionable silence, and when they were done, headed to the hangar, taking a towel on the way to dry off their feet. Snarfer had to dry off his while body, since he had been down there when the pipes blew, and was soaked. 

Lynx-O piloted the ThunderStrike out of the hangar, after asking Bengali to look after the Tower of Omens. Pumyra was visiting at the Lair. As they landed, Wilykit, who was on watch duty in the Control Room with her brother, lifted the Cat's Paw to let them in. "Hi, Lynx-O, Snarfer!" she said as they came in. 

"Hello, Thunderkittens," the elder ThunderCat replied. "Where's Lion-O?" 

"He's at the Berbil Village, negotiating for some candifruit for Snarf's pie!" Wilykat replied with a grin. Boy, was he anticipating that! 

"Oooo, we'll be sure to come over here for dinner tonight, sure will!" Snarfer said with equal eagerness.. 

Lynx-O chuckled. "I came to see if you had any spare pipes here in the Lair. We had a slight plumbing problem." 

"I think so," Wilykat said. "I'll go see." 

*** 

While the ThunderCats were dealing with their minor crisis, they were not aware that they were being watched with a large degree of disdain. "Look at them," the ancient being growled to the slobbering gray canine at his feet. "Idiocy. Their despicable cheeriness and abhorrent good will sickens me." 

The old priest waved his bandage covered hand in disgust over the cauldron, dashing the image away as he turned towards his sarcophagus. "How I wish I could eliminate them forever, Ma-Mutt. I can not begin to count how many times they have humiliated me, and thwarted my most evil plans." As the dog whined sympathetically, Mumm-Ra's hateful ruby eyes narrowed in fury as he leaned back against the far wall of his crypt. "The myth of the felines having nine lives, I am beginning to think, is true, for I can not seem to destroy them." Mumm-Ra stopped suddenly, frowning in thought. Who said he had to destroy them? Why could he not simply banish them, so that they could not return? Either way they would be out of his hair. 

Hmm! 

"That's it, Ma-Mutt!" Ma-Mutt barked and jumped up onto his master's leg. Mumm-Ra bent to pet him. "I will not destroy them, my horrid hound. I will simply create a rift in space and time, it would be a simple enough spell, and one that is least likely to backfire on me. And if it is random, if not even I can control where they end up, then how could they return? And I will cast them in; or better yet, set it up so that they do it themselves!" His spirits returning, he let out an unpleasant cackle that echoed off the walls of the chamber, walls scoured clean of moss and sterilized by eons of existence in the arid desert, with its sand and its heat. "Yes, this will be a day to be remembered, Ma-Mutt!" 

Mumm-Ra raised his arms and called out the incantation, his voice gaining strength from its sheer evil and power. "Ancient Spirits of Evil!" he commanded. "Transform this decayed form to Mumm-Ra! The Ever-Living!" As the huge monoliths that embodied the spirits of the Evil that roamed earth so many centuries ago drew together, and shed their dark light upon the mummy priest, Mumm-Ra began to undergo the changes. The bandages that wrapped around him all but shed away, and his body grew to that of a strong warrior. His armor formed, and the seared image on his chest was revealed, the image that struck fear into the hearts of those who knew whom it represented. 

Mumm-Ra cackled, a sound not quite sane, perhaps. "Now, Ma-Mutt, to find my incantation..." Mumm-Ra summoned from the catacombs below his abode a dusty old book of conjurations, that had seen scores of owners before Mumm-Ra, and had outlived every one of them. He began to search. 

Part 2 

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	2. Chapter 2

2 

Cats' Lair did, indeed, have the correct pipes, and Lynx-O and Snarfer brought them back. Having finished her visit to the lair, Pumyra hitched a ride back with them. 

After the plumbing work had been finished, Lynx-O suggested that they take a break. Third Earth had been on edge, it would seem, lately. Mutants attacked, and the Lunattacks hatched one evil, often lame-brained scheme after another. To top it all off, Mumm-Ra seemed to have declared war on the whole blasted planet. The quiet past couple of days had been a welcome relief. 

"What would you suggest?" Pumyra asked. She had assisted the other two in their task to get it finished more quickly. 

"Perhaps a picnic lunch, a short distance away from the Tower of Omens," Lynx-O suggested. "We could stay close enough to hear the auto defenses if there happened to be an attack." 

Pumyra smiled. "That's a good idea, Lynx-O. I'll get Bengali." The younger cat was willing enough to take a break and stopped his balcksmithing for the day. 

*** 

Not long afterwards, the foursome was sitting in the pleasant shade of a large tree not far from the Tower of Omens, in the closest wooded area. "Rowl, this was a good idea, Lynx-O," Bengali said as he ate a sandwich in three large bites. 

Pumyra laughed. "Bengali, the point of a picnic is to relax, not to scarf everything at once!" 

"Hey, can I help it if I have a large appetite?" he asked good naturedly. "I'm a growing cat, you know." He flashed a grin and a muscle at the puma. 

"Oh, jeez." Pumyra laughed harder. "What a ham!" Bengali's grin widened. "Besides, you're not exactly a cub." 

"No, but I _am_ almost twenty. Thunderian males don't stop growing until they're twenty-six." 

Lynx-O shook his head and laughed. "Perhaps I should go back to the Tower of Omens and get the sparring pads." He smiled on them to let them know he was kidding. 

"Who needs those?" Bengali asked. He growled and pounced. 

Lynx-O chuckled at the surprised squawk from Pumyra, then the indignant threat to the young tiger as they wrestled. He lay back and drank of his Berbilberry juice. 

*** 

In a coal-colored pyramid, a certain ageless priest of black magic had found what he was looking for. It was a simple spell, and required no objects, and no help from the ancient ones. An unnerving chuckle made its way through the large chamber. "This is it, Ma-Mutt," said the voice in a low rumble. "Divide and conquer, eh?" Mumm-Ra stood and raised his hands once more. This was not only for show, but it better put his body in a position to receive and channel the power and magic of the spell. 

As his master began, the stout canine whimpered and crawled into the sarcophagus. The magic often intimidated him, and when the wind started howling, and things started shaking, the small animal decided he liked it in the tomb much better. 

*** 

In the forest, after a short tussle that Pumyra won, Bengali stood. "I'm going to go look for some wild crental fruit," he said, speaking of a tart, skinless fruit that they had discovered in the forests of their region. "I have a taste for them." 

"Would you like some help, Bengali?" Lynx-O asked. 

"Nah, that's okay. I'll bring back a bunch." Bengali waved as he went on. Lynx-O shrugged agreebly and lay back once more, content to let the more energetic tiger bring the friut back. if he could find any, that was. Crental fruit was not always easy to locate. 

"Hey," Snarfer suggested. "You want to play hide and seek?" 

Pumyra chuckled. "I think we're a little old to play hide and seek, Snarfer. And besides, Lynx-O could not play the game very well." 

"Oh...I didn't think of that." 

Lynx-O chuckled lightly and stood. "I could play it, Pumyra. Remember that a Thunderian can smell better than most species of the galaxy, and I hear many things that no one else could. However, I don't think I am into climbing trees and hiding in bushes at the moment." 

"Well," Snarfer said, as Pumyra looked abashed by the gentle reminder. "How about kick the can? We have the juice bucket..." 

"That I will play." Lynx-O smiled and rooted around for the can. 

*** 

"Tydranti garoug, flentragh desti cresh!" Mumm-Ra called in a near shriek. It was simple, but long, and in an alien tongue. He was almost done. 

*** 

"HA!" Snarfer gloated, kicking the can easily from Lynx-O's reach. They had chosen a clearing so that no one ran into the trees, as much for Pumyra and Snarfer as for Lynx-O. When one got into a game, they sometimes didn't see things they might run into. 

The small Snarf darted for the can once more, but Lynx-O had heard the move easily, and leapt lithely in front of him, kicking the can a couple of feet away. Hearing where it landed, he kicked again, thus taking control of the game. 

Pumyra laughed at Snarfer's surprised expression as they went after the lynx... 

*** 

"Isthint yeresh!" Mumm-Ra shrieked. "Entarenm yarul ANDERON!" As these last words were howled into the blackness that had surrounded the alien spell, the energy that was channeled from the priest was cast out, striking at the intended spots around Third Earth. 

Mumm-Ra cackled insanely, the intense rush of power causing him to experience something quite similar to a drug high as it coursed through his body. "YES! Strike! And soon the ThunderCats will be no more!" 

*** 

Snarfer grinned, sneaking quietly up on Lynx-O, who was kicking the can toward their makeshift goal. He heard Bengali coming back from his search as he leapt... 

...and he landed in a spot that was nothing like the spot he had leapt from. Snarfer skidded down awkwardly on cold cement, and fell ungracefully on his rear end. Disoriented, he looked around with dazed eyes, wondering where all the trees had gone. Seconds later, Pumyra and Lynx-O ran out of thin air to join him. "What on Thundera--?" Pumyra said, as she, too, looked around. 

"I...I don't know, Pumyra." Lynx-O's voice was as confused as the others' expressions were. "We are not in the forest anymore, are we?" Pumyra shook her head, then spoke the answer. "I feel a slight chill, and hard rock or cement under my feet...and running water somewhere." 

Snarfer stood. "Where are we??" he asked, alarm already in his voice. "Lynx-O, Pumyra, what happened? Where's the Tower of Omens!?" 

"Calm down, Snarfer," Pumyra told him. "I don't know what happened, but standing here gaping isn't going to tell us, and it' not going to get us back to the Tower of Omens." 

"You're right, Pumyra," Lynx-O said. He cautiously took a step forward, putting his hands out so as not to run into anything. After a moment, his hands hit cold, hard concrete. It was rough, but even, unlike rock. "I...I felt a tingling as I ran forward and found myself here," Lynx-O said. "Did either of you feel it?" 

"No," Snarfer said. "At least I didn't notice it if I did." 

"I didn't either, Lynx-O, but you know you feel more than any of us can." 

"Yes," Lynx-O said. "But there is something more." 

"What?" 

Lynx-O shook his head. "I-I'm not sure...yet. Let is move on and see what we see." He paused then chuckled a bit. "Figuratively speaking." There was a nervous laugh from his companions as they moved on. 

The trio walked on. They were in a stone tunnel of sorts, with little light, coming from holes in the roof, and the sound and smell of water nearby. Lynx-O was silent as he felt his way, but as he went, things were clicking into place. The smells, and the sounds, and the cool, damp feel, all these were finding a familiar place in the niches of his mind and memory. He became oriented, while Pumyra and Snarfer became more confused. 

"This looked almost like a storm sewer," Pumyra said. 

"Yeah!' Snarfer agreed. "That's why it looks kind of familiar! I wonder where, though? Third Earth doesn't have any cities that use storm sewers like this, are there?" 

"No, I don't think so." 

Finally the group came to a large area with three other tunnels branching out from it. The sound of rushing water grew stronger, and the felt moisture beneath their feet. There was an inrush of cool air against the hot, humid atmosphere that tried to penetrate from above. There was large grate above that let a good amount of sunlight filter through, and Lynx-O felt it on his face. There was a large ditch in the floor, and Lynx-O stopped short before stepping in it. "Careful!" he warned, his voice having a strange, urgent quality to it. He pointed downward, got to his knees and felt. It was there, a two foot wide, one foot deep trench in the cement. 

Pumyra and Snarfer were gaping at him. "Lynx-O!" Snarfer finally said. "How...how did you know that was there? You couldn't possibly see it, nope, no way, snarfer, snarfer!" 

Lynx-O frowned and shook his head. He stood, the knees of his uniform having been soaked from kneeling in the trickles of water. "Look ahead. There is a tunnel, two others on the side. On your left is an indentation in the wall with an old control panel, on the right a bench made for those who work in the sewers to use to rest while they toil, in front of each tunnel is a ditch. The cement is a dark gray color, except for the bench, which was painted a dark green." There was an astounded pause. "Am I right?" the elderly lynx asked. 

While Snarfer sputtered, Pumyra finally closed her slack jaw and exclaimed, "By Jaga, Lynx-O! How?" 

Lynx-O dropped his head and shook it in amazement. "I have heard this before. I have felt it, the air, the cement. I have smelled the damp and the concrete, and the cool air...smell is the strongest sense when it comes to recalling memories." He hesitated, then continued. "Pumyra, I have been here before, when I still had my eyes." 

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	3. Chapter 3

3 

"Hey!" Bengali called, not quite in sight of the group yet. "I hear a game of Kick the Can going on!" There was no answer. For that matter, he actually didn't hear the game anymore. "Pumyra? Snarfer?" he called, and stepped into the clearing where he had heard the frolicking sounds. "Lynx-O?" The young man set the can he was keeping the fruits in on the ground and scowled a little worriedly. "Okay guys, this is not funny, come on out." He hoped it was a prank, but something was gnawing at his instincts. There was something very wrong here. 

Bengali searched for a long time, but he found no one. He did find the foot tracks, and the scuffs from the can, all of which ended abruptly, as if they were carried away by something huge, or perhaps spirited away. No signs of a struggle; it would have to have been very sudden. The can they had obviously been using sat to the side, looking almost lonely by itself. 

That did it. Bengali re-sheathed his hammer, which he had taken out, and ran for the Tower of Omens. 

"Cats' Lair! " came an urgent voice. "Come in, quickly!" 

Wilykat recognized the white tiger's growl, and switched on the screen. At Bengali's worried face, both twins were instantly alert. "What's wrong, Bengali?" Wilykat asked. 

"Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Snarfer are gone," came the terse reply. "I have searched all over the place and can not find them. I don't know where they are." He the told them of the picnic and what he had found in the forest. 

"Okay, hold on, Bengali, we're gonna get Lion-O. We can send a search party!" It was nearing the end of their shift anyway, and they thought that Lion-O would allow them to go with them on this search. 

"What?" said a puzzled Lion-O, as the twins burst in on the kitchen where he was getting a snack and explained the situation. "What do you mean they disappeared?" 

Wilykat shrugged. "That's what Bengali said. We don't know." 

Lion-O frowned. "Okay. I'll take Panthro and Cheetara and go take a look. You two stay at your posts here at the Lair and wait for instructions." 

"Awww, Lion-O, can't we come?" Wilykit said, her voice sounding a lot more whiny than she had intended it to. She changed her tone with a flush of embarrassment. "I mean you know we're good at tracking." 

Lion-O stifled a smile and spoke seriously to the hopeful twins. "Not this time, Thunderkittens. In this case, Cheetara's sixth sense will be of more help, and your shift isn't over yet." 

"Aw, Lion-O." came the disappointed reply from Wilykat. 

But argument was futile. Both twins sighed in resignation and grumbled their way back to the control room. 

"Okay," came a dejected sounding voice. Wilykit. "Lion-O and Panthro and Cheetara are coming over." 

Ah, that explained it, Bengali thought. They were told to stay behind. "Good, thanks, guys. Stand by for updates." He switched off the screen. 

Deciding that he wanted to meet the incoming group in the hangar, Bengali took a step... 

...and stepped into thin air. He let out a startled yelp as all of a sudden he was falling where it should have been impossible to fall... 

"Did you hear something?" Cheetara asked. She had gotten a brief mental flash that was so short her mind could not tell her if it had been heard or only felt. 

Lion-O looked at her a little strangely, and shook his head. "No, I didn't hear anything. What's the matter?" 

Cheetara shook her head as Panthro drove the ThunderTank into the opened hangar doors. "Nothing. It must have been a noise of the 'Tank." But it had sounded like a scream. 

Lion-O frowned a little, but let it go for the moment. 

Once at the Tower of Omens, the trio jumped from the ThunderTank, landing lightly on the floor of the hangar. "Bengali?" Panthro called in his strong, penetrating voice. 

"The intercom might have worked a little better, Panthro," Cheetara said, her own voice carrying the slight exotic accent of her species. 

Panthro laughed. "Maybe, but I am letting out pent-up energy." Cheetara laughed, and followed Lion-O up the stairs. He admonished them to at a little more serious, as this was a serious task. Three ThunderCats were missing. A little chastised, the other two quieted down. 

"Bengali?" Lion-O said into the empty Control Room. 

"He's not here," the panther said. He looked puzzled. 

"Maybe he's in the bathroom," Cheetara suggested. 

Lion-O didn't answer, he only went to the console, raised the Lair on the radio, and asked the twins where Bengali was. His voice sounded loud and somehow out of place in the quiet Tower. 

"We don't know, Lion-O. We were telling him that we'd stand by like he asked, then he left to meet you. He's not there?" 

Lion-O looked at the radio and the screen for a moment, a cold chill making its way down his spine. An unpleasant worm of paranoia was squirming into the young lord's mind. "No," he said to the wildcats. "He isn't here, Wilykit. Listen, you and Wilykat be very careful, there's something going on here that I don't like. Tell the others. Will get back to you soon." 

Wilykit frowned, but to her credit did not waste time with questions now, only did as she was asked. "Good luck, Lion-O!" her brother added. 

"Well," Cheetara said. She had her eyes closed in thought. "It's strange; no matter how I focus or concentrate, I cannot track any of them. I have never not been able to feel any of your presences before." 

Lion-O frowned thunderously at this. No, he did not like this at all. "Something's screwy here," he said, unsheathing the Sword of Omens. "And I intent to find out what. Sword of Omens, give me Sight Beyond Sight!" he commanded, and the crossbars curled upward, as the distorted tunnel vision of the magic was made known to Lion-O's eyes. 

Unfortunately, there was nothing to see, only what looked like the interference one sometimes got on a viewscreen if the connection was bad. "Nothing. The Sword showed me nothing." That was not good. It either meant that there was some strong magic blocking the Sword; the events of the day were too horrible for the Sword to be able to reveal; or Lynx-O and the crew of the Tower of Omens were too far away to track. 

"Blast!" Panthro spat, and clenched his fists. "I guess we do this the hard way. To the forest!" 

"Yes," Lion-O said grimly. "We will get to the bottom of this." 

The trio left the Control room, passing the point where unbeknownst to them, the young white tiger had stepped only moments ago, and vanished. Nothing happened, and they passed the spot with no trouble, without giving it a second glance. 

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	4. Chapter 4

4 

In a storm sewer somewhere, Pumyra and Snarfer only stared at Lynx-O for a minute. 

"But that's impossible, Lynx-O!" Pumyra finally said. "Are you sure you are not mistaken? I mean a memory from before you lost your sight is sure to be an old one, and old memories sometimes lie." 

Lynx-O shook his head decisively. "Pumyra, I just described this chamber in perfect detail. The odds of a coincidence such as that happening are small. No, I have been here before." Lynx-O turned his head upward, as if to look. "The light in here is very dim. Only here near this opening could I see well enough to distinguish color. Color, Pumyra! There is no way for me to know that except to have _seen_ it. But due to the lack of light, the senses I used mostly down here were the ones I use now. Scent, hearing, and touch. This is why I am able to recognize it _using_ solely these senses." 

Still clearly not wanting to believe it, or perhaps not being able to since her rational mind insisted it was not possible, Pumyra frowned. "So where was it you...came here?" she finally asked. 

Lynx-O did not have a chance to reply, as Snarfer had found an old step- ladder that perhaps a worker had left down there, and was standing on the top on his toes to peek out from the grate. "Holy cow!" he cried. "Lynx-O, Pumyra! This is Thundera!!" 

"What?" came the astounded reply from the cougar. She looked up, then climbed up to peer out as well. "Great Jaga!" 

Lynx-O nodded grimly. Looking out would of course do him no good; he did not need to see. He already knew. "Yes, Pumyra. I came here often as a small cub. This was my hideaway, a place where I came to explore, and be alone." 

Outside was a scene from one of the large cities of Thundera; not Lynx-O and Pumyra's own, not the main city that housed the ThunderCats and King Claudus. Thunderians walked the streets, where hovercars swooshed their way along, and cubs ran by unclothed and on all fours on the grass, tumbling or wrestling; the older ones rode hoverscooters or perhaps played ball. As Pumyra watched, she felt a wave of homesickness so strong, so crushing, that she felt dizzy had to clutch the grate to keep from falling to the ground. Seeing so many of her countrymen, seeing the everyday life she had always taken for granted; the orange, pre-afternoon sky, the buildings and spires. She bit her lip to keep the tears from falling. How long before it was destroyed? Lynx-O was right: this was Thundera. He was right. 

"Pumyra?" 

Pumyra shook her head and looked down, then at Snarfer, above her on the ladder but at eye level. Both were turned expectantly towards her. "Huh?" 

"Lynx-O said we gotta get up there and find out where on Thundera this is...and when," Snarfer said. 

Pumyra had not even heard. Trying to shake off her longing to go home again, so to speak, she nodded. "Yes...yes, that's a good idea. And find out how we got here so we can...get back." Lynx-O caught the hesitation in her voice, and she knew he probably did. As they walked along, searching for the manhole Lynx-O said was along the western tunnel, she wondered if she _wanted_ to go back. 

*** 

Bengali's mind gave him a brief moment where it convinced him that he was dreaming, and any second he would wake up to feel the warm sun shining through the trees, and see Lynx-O and the others playing kick the can; that was nice, because then he didn't feel the terror of hurtling downward from a spot that had started out in the Tower of Omens, and ended high up somewhere. High, too high. Way too high. 

This brief moment of relief did not last long. He had dreamt of falling before, and always had gotten the logy feeling he got right before he woke up long before he neared the ground, and always awakened before he hit. It wasn't happening. Maybe it's just a vivid dream? Even so, he had heard that if you hit the ground in a dream, you died in your sleep. It was an old wives' tale that Pumyra kidded him about believing, but still, a Thunderian never dreamed being killed or being dashed upon the ground for one simple reason: dreams were based on events that you know, or have experienced. Often they are the events of the day in a jumbled puzzle of the sub conscious' making; the mind can't imagine what it's like to die, so it wakes the dreamer up. If one dies in his sleep, that means the brain would know what it's like to die, meaning it would have had to experience it. 

Complicated? Maybe, but Bengali believed every bit of it. 

All this went through his mind in seconds as he hurtled through the air. After the hope that it was a dream came the terror, and he screamed. However he did this for longer than he should have. When he was able to get some sort of control over himself (and still falling through the air as he did so) he opened his eyes and looked. Up. Down. Side to side. He saw nothing, nothing at all. The sky was bright blue, much bluer than that of Third Earth, and there were clouds here and there. in some places it seemed to be raining after a fashion, the rain kind of disappearing into thin air, as there was no ground to fall on. 

The young tiger was dazed as he looked around. He had been falling for several minutes, but the air was warm, and as soon as he got used to the wind, and seeing no ground, it was almost more like flying than falling, maybe in the Hovercat or something similar. "Where am I?" he said aloud, and the wind snatched the words away to the clouds as soon as they were said. No land, but if he was falling, there had to be land! Falling meant there was _gravity_ somewhere, blast it! 

Not that he wanted to splat on stone or anything, but he saw no land, no organisms, only endless blue sky and puffy, whitish-pink clouds. 

*** 

In the Black Pyramid, Mumm-Ra watched this in his cauldron, once again in his smaller form. He stood at the edge and peered in amusedly, and when he saw where Bengali had ended up, he howled with laughter. Ma-Mutt barked and peered in as well, tail wagging. "Oh, this is too good, my loyal pet," he said to the dog, in better spirits than he had been in in a long time. The mummy priest had, with his magic and evil wizardry, been to the far reaches of the galaxy, and even beyond _that_ on occasion. He had never been to the world Bengali had fallen into, but he had heard if it, and known a few in his time who had been there. 

Bengali had been right; there was no land on that world; in fact it could not really be called a world at all. It was made of atmosphere; that was it. It was, if looked at from space, a looped tube of gasses that faded out toward the edges, past the eccentric atmosphere. A doughnut or air. There was life there, very primitive life on the cellular level. In this world, it would be unlikely that anything else would evolve, and the way it was constructed, this world, it was like a giant wind tunnel. Bengali would only fall and fall and fall, round and round. 

Mumm-Ra was pleased. Bengali would die from thirst or hunger, if he wasn't driven mad from falling endlessly for days. Perhaps he would be able to use the rain for water but that would sustain him for only so long. Rumbling low laughter, Mumm-Ra instructed his pet to watch over the cauldron while he rested, and sank back into his sarcophagus to recuperate, and to rest up to watch the results of his spell. Four down, several to go. 

Bengali, falling in the air   
Bengali 

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	5. Chapter 5

5 

"ThunderTank to Cats' Lair," blared Lion-O's voice from the radio. 

Wilykit, sitting right by it, jumped about a foot in the air, then hurriedly turned it down. "Cats' Lair, go ahead, Lion-O." 

"Any signs of Pumyra or the others?" 

"No. And me and Wilykat even scanned the whole area, with the scanners on their highest. No Thunderian life forms but us. And Tygra." 

Lion-O sighed. "Bengali's gone too. He's not within five miles of the Tower of Omens." 

There was a silence as Wilykat and Wilykit looked at each other, frowning. Then Wilykat took the microphone and said, "Nowhere? Not at all?" 

Lion-O shook his head in the ThunderTank, even though the visual was not on. "Nowhere. And since you two say he was there minutes before we arrived, I have no idea where in the name of Thundera he could have gone, or how he could have gotten so far away in that little time. We'll be there at Cats' Lair in a few minutes, Wilykit." 

"All right, Lion-O. Cats' Lair out." She set down the mic and looked at her brother. "What's going on here?" 

Wilykat shook his head. "I don't know, Wilykit...you think Mumm-Ra's a part of this?" He asked this doubtfully. 

Wilykit shook her head. "I don't know, you know he always has to come and gloat, or else he does things personally so he can gloat. Either way we'd have him in here gloating at us." 

"Yeah, you're right." Both young ThunderCats fell silent then and sat back in their chairs. 

Moments later, Lion-O came back inside. "All right, kittens, your shift is up. Cheetara, were you or Panthro next today?" 

"I think it was Panthro," Cheetara said. then she corrected himself. "No, that was yesterday. It is my turn." With a smile to the twins, she sat at a console and checked it over quickly. Wilykit and Wilykat gratefully stood and stretched. "I'll send Snarf to watch over the Tower of Omens," she added gravely. "He is not going to be pleased to hear about this, especially since his nephew is missing as well." 

"All right," the young ThunderCat lord said. "That's a good idea. The rest of you? We're going for a ride. In the Feliner. We are going to search every inch of Third Earth if we have to. And if we don't find them by then..." He shook his head. He could not finish the sentence, because he had no idea what they would do then. "Well let's get going. Cheetara, you know that if you need us, the radio frequency is always open." 

The cheetah laughed kindly. "I know, Lion-O. I'll be all right. You go on and find the others. I am sure they are in far greater danger than I." 

A little embarrassed at his gung-ho instructions, Lion-O grinned and nodded. He led his little band outside the room. 

Once in the hangar, Lion-O and Tygra opened up the Feliner, while Panthro hit the controls to open the Cat's Paw. The twins had decided to take their hoverboards. However, the twins did not get that far. Wilykit bent to pick up a pellet that had fallen from her belt, when suddenly Wilykat wasn;t there. 

All heads in the hangar turned at Wilykat's startled scream, and they saw Wilykit staring in shock at thin air. _Thin_ air, where Wilykat had just disappeared into. "Where am I, where AM I?!" Wilykat's panicked voice could be heard from somewhere, as if from a great distance. 

"Wilykat!" Lion-O said, shocked. He leapt out of the Feliner, and he and Panthro rushed over to where Wilykit stood, still staring with a frown of complete confusion. 

Tygra looked closely, and saw something the others did not. 

The capsule from Wilykat's belt lay on the ground, but only half of it was there. The rest was simply gone, and Tygra could see into the sawed off half, and saw that it was a grease pellet. He narrowed his eyes and quickly ran several simultaneous scans on the Feliner's computer as the tohers broke into a babble of comfused voices. 

There! The scanners were set to pick up a variety of things, inter-dimensional rifts being one of them. They were something that the ThunderCats had dealt with before, although not often, and the need to detect that energy was deemed necessary. But it was weak; not only was there a rift in space, but something else as well that was messing up the reading...time maybe? But why then did nothing show up at the Tower of Omens, or outside it where Lynx-O and the others had disappeared? 

Meanwhile,. Wilykit had come out of her daze. She shrieked her brother's name, and heard him call back faintly, "Is that you, Wilykit?" 

"Yes! It's me, where are you?!" 

"I-I don't know!" came the helpless reply. He sounded scared. Wilykit frowned and took a step forward. 

"Wilykit, wait!' Lion-O said. 

"It's okay, I'm not going--Great Jaga!" 

Lion-O's jaw dropped, and Panthro gaped. All of a sudden, Wilykit's right leg and her bent-over upper body was not there. On the other side of her, Tygra could see her innards, still working, pumping blood, and moving air. Though he had seen the inside of a body before assisting a healer in an operation on Thundera, seeing it like this was a little too weird. He fought the urge to vomit. 

The others saw none of this, but Panthro was greatly alarmed, and rightly so. He grabbed Wilykit's arm. "Wait Panthro!" she shouted. "Wait, Wilykat's in there! It's okay, just...keep a hold of me..." Her voice was faint and far away. 

At Lion-O's terse nod, Panthro did as the young cub asked. 

What Wilykit saw was almost nothing, but her foot was set down on what felt like a hard, wet, dense sponge, saturated with something thick like old engine oil or swamp mud. The air was unbelievably heavy, and she had to work to get any oxygen out of it. There was another kind of gas here that made her lightheaded, and the atmosphere was thick, very thick. She could her Wilykat panting as well. 

What she did see was a world that looked like it was on the verge of blackest night, with no stars in the sky that she could see. She could hear sludgy sounds, like something flat and low slurping through the mess that seemed to be the ground. She saw a vague horizon that was a thick line of dark purple between a layer of black sky and black land. 

As her eyes adjusted, her feline eyes better for seeing on this world than most people's would be, she saw her brother's silhouette. "Wilykat! Come to the door!" 

"I can't see you!" Here, his voice was clear and loud. He was several yards away, where he had wandered in his panic. 

"Come to my voice!" 

"O-okay..." Wilykit watched anxiously, straining her eyes to catch the shadowy glimpse of her brother as he moved carefully through the slurpy ground. 

There were creatures here, and Wilykit could see them. They scared her with their pure alienness, but as she watched, she saw that they had no mouths that she could see as some of them turned in profile (or what she assumed was profile.) They were low and flat, and they dragged themselves slowly through the sludge on legs that seemed only a foot or so long. There were many, many legs, and they walked sideways, reminding Wilykit of crabs. As Panthro held her arm, she used her other to pull out her light from her belt, and shone it on the creature, which happened to be right next to her brother. 

"Wilykit! I see you! I'm coming that way!" Wilykat shrieked, seeing the creature right next to him, but when it did nothing, he relaxed...a little. He walked faster, as fast as he dared for fear of falling. Wilykit kept a steady report of what was happening to the others. 

The creature, one of many in what she guessed was a herd, was a flat, irregular oval, of a nondescript grayish color. It had no mouth and no eyes, no ears, nothing. It had a couple of...appendages on what would have been its face had it been built like a crab, the closet thing Wilykit could think of to what it was. It must have no senses, she thought, not like ours! Maybe we don't even emit anything that their senses can understand! She did see that her light was causing the thing's very skin to sizzle, and though the creature did nothing, she turned the light hastily on her brother only. She did not want to harm the creatures. 

Not even a sense of touch. How did they eat? she wondered. If they even did. 

While Wilykit thought all these questions, and tried to keep her fear down and get her brother back, Tygra was also thinking hard. An inter-dimensional rift, maybe one of time as well? Well, time _was_ a dimension, the fourth one. He had no experience with time rifts, and little personal experience with any of them to begin with. He had no idea what caused them, or how to avoid them, or how to get someone back that fell into one. None. He did tell the others what the scanners had picked up. 

"Got him!" came Wilykit's faint voice in the silent hangar. "Pull us out, Panthro, this stuff if sticky!" 

With a frown, Panthro pulled back, surprised at the amount of strength he needed. He was almost afraid he would hurt Wilykit if he pulled any harder, and the girl had to hold back an outcry as she felt somehting in her arm give, but finally she came free and they all tumbled back. Apparently the ground was easier to slop through in a slide than to get out of altogether. 

Panthro made a face, and Lion-O stared at the twins' feet: Wilykat's feet, and the one boot Wilykit had in there were covered in a thick, unpleasantly dark red, gluey substance that looked disturbingly like blood. A quick smell told them it was not, but it was unpleasant just the same. "I-I'm gonna go wash this off, okay, Lion-O?" Wilykat asked. He also had the substance on his tunic, his hands, and some spatters on his face. He had fallen once and almost hadn't been able to get up. Both twins were trying to get their breathing to normal. 

"Yes, both of you go." It was Tygra. "You don't know what's that's made of, it could be caustic." h frowned at Wilyki's arm, and saw now that it had been dislocated. the girl had a grimace of pain on her face as she looked at it. "And have Snarf tend that, all right?" 

The idea of the stuff being caustic got them moving, though. With thick slurping sounds, they trudged back into the Lair, sticking to the floor at every step. "Wait for us though!" Wilykit called. 

Tygra nodded. "Hurry up!" 

"Okay, Tygra, what was that?" Lion-O demanded. Tygra shook his head. "I can't tell exactly, but it's some kind of dimensional rift. That was a world we have never heard of, Lion-O, I am going to ask the twins about it." Despite the seriousness of the situation, Tygra was actually very excited about the idea of a new world, one that was so different. It could have been in another universe for all he knew, if there was such a thing. 

As Lion-O frowned in thought, Panthro stuck his hand out where Wilykit had been. The capsule that had made Tygra realize what it might be had been kicked away, and Panthro's hand encountered air. Nothing but normal air. "It's gone." 

Tygra was frowning thunderously. The his eyes widened in realization. "That's it!' he finally said. "That's why our sensors picked up nothing at the Tower of Omens! Once someone or something is all the way through, or all the way back out, it must disappear! Wilykit dropped one of her capsules, that's why the door stayed open. The capsule acted as a doorstop, so to speak. Otherwise, Wilykat would have been trapped there." 

All three were silent as they realized how desperate a situation that would have been, especially considering the world. "Then Lynx-O and the others..." Lion-O said. 

"Yes," Tygra agreed grimly. "We have no idea where they are. We need to find out how to learn their whereabouts, and do it fast. And we must find out how many of these have opened. Because if some innocent citizen falls into one..." 

"We must find out what is going on," Lion-O said, and climbed into the Feliner. When the twins came back, their boots and legs scrubbed clean and Wilykit's shoulder ehavily bandaged, they took off. 

Part 4 

Part 6 

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	6. Chapter 6

6 

It had taken Lynx-O only minutes to remember where the manhole covers were, and he looked upward, rather he would have looked upward had he had his sight. As it was, he turned his head up as if to look. He chuckled. "What's so funny?" asked Snarfer. 

"Oh, just being here is strange to me, Snarfer. I 'look' at things and expect to see them. I come to places and move my head, used to doing so to look where I am going. I find myself doing these things back in this place." 

"Oh," Snarfer said, sounding a little sympathetic. "I guess you probably miss your sight more than ever here. I know if I couldn't see now that we're back on Thundera, I would be pretty sad, yessir." 

Lynx-O smiled a little sadly. "No, I don't miss any more than I ever did, Snarfer," he replied. He was lying a little bit, but now was not the time for self pity. "It's only peculiar. Now there should be a ladder set into the concrete." He reached out his hands to feel and smiled. "Yes. All right, let's get out of here." He started to climb. 

One by one, they climbed out of the manhole, getting some very strange looks from the passers-by. The manhole covers were set a good distance away from the road, so that when maintenance was needed, there was greater safety to the workers, and roads did not need to be closed. "People are looking at us strangely," Pumyra said. Her voice was distant and far away. It was so strange, she was acting normally, as if she were used to the everyday life of Thundera. She was, she supposed. She had lived it so long, that even after such a long absence, walking the streets of Thundera felt natural to her, although she gawked like a tourist. "What city is this?" 

Lynx-O shook his head. "It is not our city. I would take the hoverbus here, this is the neighboring city." Lynx-O sounded a little dreamy himself, a tone that his companions were not used to hearing in his voice. "I would sneak out and hop on the back bumper where the driver could not see me and come here. I found it one day when I was visiting my cousins here in this city. I discovered that my uncle had a forgotten manhole just outside his property and this is one of the places the tunnels led. I thought that was so neat, that it was like my own private secret passageway. I went there often, even sneaking out of our own city of Claudon to do it." He laughed. "Had he only known. It was dangerous, being in a storm sewer, especially if it was raining." 

"So this is Felis then?" Pumyra said, then answered her own question. "Of course it is, Lynx-O, look, it's the Tyger's Monument! Well I mean don't look, but-" 

"I understand, Pumyra. Yes the Tyger's Monument would be in Felis." The trio approached the large statue, depicting a Thunderian of the Tyger clan, a feral Thunderian with a tail, and a muzzle rather than a nose and mouth. He was one of a rare few Thunderians born with the more feral features. Many were scorned, but this one, Tygresan, was a great war hero. There was a period of peace on Thundera for the moment, though the last war had been only a half a decade past, with Plundaar. Lynx-O smiled as he ran his hand over it. "Okay, we know where we are," Snarfer said., "But now what?" 

Lynx-O shook himself out of his reverie. "Now we must find out _when_ we are. Since this monument is up, it is not too far in the past, as this was a monument of the last war before Thundera was destroyed." He spoke in a low tone so that only Pumyra and Snarfer could hear. "That gives us a fifteen year time period." He thought a moment. "Pumyra, do you see a garbage can anywhere?" 

Pumyra looked around. "No, well wait there's one across the street. Why?" 

Lynx-O started that way carefully, walking with his hands in front of him. He did wish right now that he could see, or at least that he had brought his portable Braille board on the picnic. It would be handy at the moment. "I will need help getting across," he said. "We can simply find a newspaper and find the date. If we cannot find one, we will have to ask a passerby." That would probably not be a good idea, as Lynx-O did not want to draw too much attention to themselves, but as they did have to know, it might be necessary. 

There was no paper there, but they did manage to find a receipt from a shop that had the date on it. "Ten years," Pumyra said softly. "Thundera will not be destroyed for ten years." 

"Yes. All right." Lynx-O sighed. He could feel the eyes of the others on him, and he did not have a single idea of what to do. "First of all, try to attract as little attention as you can. As we are in the past of our own world, we would not want to do anything to change history. Next, we have to see if there are any jaguars here that have a magic powerful enough to get us back to our own time. If not, then we will have to find out what caused us to be transported here, and who cast the portal. 

"Maybe it was Mumm-Ra!" Snarfer said. Lynx-O frowned. "Do you think?" 

"Yes, I think it is very possible." Lynx-O was thinking fast. "If that is so, as he is an ever-living creature, then he would be alive now. Hmm." That could be useful information, but how would they contact the evil being? He would not know who they were, which could help them get what they needed, but they would need to find their way to Third Earth. 

As Snarfer and Lynx-O thought things out, Pumyra heard little of it. Her mind was still on one thing that Lynx-O had said: "As we are in the past of our own world, we would not want to do anything to change history." She had not even thought of it until now! If they could find out what had caused Thundera's destruction, then maybe... "Huh?" Lynx-O had said her name, snapping her out of her thoughts. "What?" 

"Are you all right?" The elderly lynx sounded concerned. 

She forced a smile. "Of course I am. What were you saying?" 

Lynx-O frowned a little bit. He was worried. It was a shock, being here on Thundera, but it had been done before. Lynx-O and the others had been told of the time Lion-O did so one time. "I was saying we need to seek out a magic user. Let us ask around. But be descreet." He paused a minute as a realization came to him, and he felt a bit of a chill go into his mind. "Pumyra, take off your insignia. We are not ThunderCats at this point in time, we should not be wearing them." He removed his own hastily, hoping not many had seen him. It was against Thunderian laws to imitate the nobles. Too many evil beings had done so and caused trouble. 

Pumyra grinned and did as he suggested, putting the disk into her pocket. "Let's do it!" 

"Yeah!" Snarfer agreed, rising up on his tail, and totally oblivious to what Lynx-O had sensed. "Let's do it! Yep! Yessir, we're gonna beat this thing, snarfer, snarfer!" 

"Indeed," Lynx-O said. "Let's head into town." The two Thunderians and the Snarf walked down the streets of Thundera, gaining hardly a glance from the others. They were Thunderians in a place of Thunderians, why would anyone look twice? 

*** 

At Cats' Lair, Cheetara and Snarf were left. She called him up to the Control Room and told him of the situation. He panicked and became very agitated, and once she had calmed him down, she told him that he needed to go and look after the Tower of Omens. 

"Ohhh, snarf, snarf, okay, Cheetara. But I won't be any good worrying about that nephew of mine! He gets into more trouble without me to look after him!" 

Cheetara laughed. "Perhaps so, Snarf, but for now you can look after the Tower." 

Just then, a call came over the radio. The droning, dual-tone voice that belonged to a Berbil crackled through it on a frequency that sounded like it might break down at any second. "ThunderCats! This is Roberbill! The Mutants are here, and we are powerless to stop them, oh please heeelp!" 

Cheetara growled as she stood. "Those miserable Mutants have the worst timing!" She got on the radio. "We'll be right there, Roberbill, hang tight! Snarf, get to the Feliner--no, Lion-O took it. All right, get down and pilot the Hovercat. I'll take the ThunderClaw. Go!" As Snarf nodded and hurried down to the hangar, Cheetara radioed Lion-O's team and told them what was going down, and they said they would be there as soon as they could. After a quick acknowledgment of the information, Cheetara ran downstairs, her feet scarcely touching the cool stone. 

At the Berbil Village, things were havoc. S-S-Slithe, Monkian, and Jackalman were strafing the small huts that housed the half-mechanical bears. Mothers towing children ran from them and hid. So far no one had been killed, but there were injuries. "Nyah-hah-hah!" Jackalman cackled. "Run, you pathetic creatures!" He fired once, and hit the large building in the center of town, their meeting place. More than a dozen Berbils ran from it, yelling in their monotones. The jackal laughed again. "This is fun, don't you think, Monkian?" 

"Hoo, hoo, yeah, these bears are even more pathetic than you, Jackalman!" 

"Me?! You're the one with no brain, Monkian!" Jackalman brought his Skycutter up and squeezed off a couple of blasts at his comrade's vehicle. 

"HEY! Watch it, scavenger!" He pulled up and threw a few shots of his own. 

There came a growl over their communicators. "Cool it, morons!" It was S-S-Slithe. "We have a job to do! You two can kill each other later!" 

There were a few grumbled replies when Jackalman spotted the two vehicles, coming fast. "Here they come, S-S-Slithe! But it looks like it's only the cheetah woman and that wretched Snarf!" 

"Good enough! You know where to lead them, yeeesss?" Two eager affirmatives. "Take care you don't fly in yourself, you incompetent fools, or you'll be trapped there!" 

"Hoo, where does it go?" the simian asked. 

"How should I know? I didn't put it there!" S-S-Slithe snapped back. "Now shut up, they're getting close!" 

The two ThunderCat vehicle soared into the village, the warm air whipping Cheetara's mane back from her face and making Snarf's fur stand up in clumps. "Cheetara! It's just three of them this time. We can take them!" Snarf said. 

"Don't be overconfident. We must stop them, but be careful." 

"Snarf, snarf, I know that, Cheetara. So let's go!" The pair charged. 

S-S-Slithe snickered. How gullible the felines were! "All right, let's get them, Mutants!" He rose in the Nosediver, and fired at the approaching pair. "Give it up, ThunderCats! This time you're outmatched! This village is doomed!" He added a burst of maniacal laughter to punctuate his words. 

Cheetara and Snarf split up, veering in different directions. While S-S- Slithe went after Cheetara, Jackalman cackled his own insane laugh and fired on the Snarf. 

"Oh no you don't, Jackalman!" Snarf cried indignantly, and went into a dive. At the last minute, the little feline creature rose, hoping Jackalman would follow his lead, smashing into the ground instead of pulling up. It almost happened. But Jackalman was more skilled with his vehicle than Snarf had anticipated. "Drat!" 

"Not so fast, Snarf!" the jackal cried gleefully. He could not do it yet, him and the cheetah had to be close together. "You won't get rid of me so easily!" Now chasing the small ThunderCat, he fired on him. 

Snarf screeched as his vehicle was hit, and he fought to gain control. Meanwhile, Cheetara had the other two to worry about, and she was only barely keeping herself alive. She dodged, she swerved, she dove, and always it seemed she was only inches from disaster. But finally, she got a clear shot. "Take that, reptillian!" She fired three times quickly at S-S-Slithe. 

He took the shots and dove, crashing to the ground and climbing painfully from it on all fours. "GET THEM!" he screeched into the radio of his ruined vehicle. Cheetara was fast on Monkian's heels so to speak, and Snarf made a quick loop in the air, ending up behind his own opponent. Jackalman and Monkian acted as if this was not supposed to happen, but it reality was exactly what they had wanted! At an unspoken signal, both headed for the same place. 

"Oh no you don't!" Snarf cried, and dove after him. Cheetara soared in pursuit of the simian. 

As they approached the outskirts of the Berbil Village, both at the same time baked a sharp turn, Jackalman tumbling through the air and crashing from a height of no more than ten feet. Monkian managed to stay in the air. Snarf flew by to gloat...and seconds later disappeared. 

"What in the name of Jaga--!" Cheetara tried in vain to pull up as the last of Snarf's vehicle was disappearing, but she too disappeared, the nose of her vehicle inches ahead of the rear of the hoverCat. 

Jackalman cackled, joined by his comrades. Even S-S-Slithe, who had injured his leg and blood poured from a wound in his head, laughed with them. "So much for them!" Monkian gloated. "Let's go back and tell Mumm-Ra, hoo hoo! That should make him happy." 

"Later," S-S-Slithe croaked as Monkian landed nearby. Jackalman had restarted his Skycutter, which was not too damaged to run, and joined them. 

"I've been injured, I am going back to Castle Plundaar to be tended. That bag of bones can wait. We did as he wanted us to, he can deal with it, yeees?" 

"Yes!" Jackalman agreed. Then he looked u p. "Uh oh! The rest of those Thunderpests are on the way!" 

S-S-Slithe looked up and staggered over to Jackalman's Skycutter. Getting on, he cried, "Back to Castle Plundaar!!" 

As the Feliner approached, the Mutants fled. 

Lion-O gaped for a minute. "Where are Cheetara and Snarf?" 

S-S-Slithe needn't have worried about Mumm-Ra, as Ma-Mutt had awakened him when the fiasco at the Berbil village had started. Mumm-Ra smiled, pleased. "Good," he growled. "There are seven portals left. More than enough to take care of those infernal cats!" Ma-Mutt whined a question. The ancient being, after being with his pet for so many centuries, knew every whine and bark. "No, Ma-Mutt. If this spell fails, I cannot cast it again until there is another alignment of the heavens. But no need to worry, my putrid pet. This time should be plenty and enough." Chuckling, he sat back to watch. 

Part 5 

Part 7 

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	7. Chapter 7

7 

"Damn!" Tygra spat, and immediately activated the sensors once more, his eyes narrowed. "I think we've found what's going on here, Lion-O," he said in a growl. He watched the bright blue computerized aura on the screen that signified the portal's energy. It was rapidly disappearing. Lion-O took a look at it as the last of it vanished. "The energy diminishes fast," the tiger went on. "If this is what happened to the others, then we will find no traces of it if it is more than a few seconds gone." He punched the side panel of the Feliner's wall in an uncharacteristic show of temper. "Blast it all!" 

"Who's responsible for it?" Lion-O mused. 

Panthro scowled. "I'd say it's Mumm-Ra's foul doing. This is just the kind of crazy scheme he'd cook up." 

"But," Lion-O protested. "How could he possibly know where we would be to plant these portals?" 

"Well all he had to do was drop a rift right in the control room of the Tower of Omens, and that explains Bengali. As for Lynx-O and the others, Bengali said they went on a picnic and talked about it beforehand. You know that miserable mummy can see anything he wants in his blasted cauldron of his." Panthro narrowed his eyes. "As for here? Well the only reason we're here is because the Berbils called us for help." 

"Because the Mutants were here making trouble!" Lion-O finished. "Miserable Mutants, that last maneuver wasn't random!" The young lord had thought when they almost ran into each other at the end there it was normal Mutant incompetence, but now he suspected it was intentional. "And they must have been told where that rift was!" 

Panthro nodded grimly, then looked down. "There's Roberbill," he said. "We'd better go down and give them a hand, tend the injured and help clean things up." 

"What about the others?" Wilykat said worriedly, looking a little guilty that he had not brought up his suspicions of Mumm-Ra sooner. 

"They're ThunderCats, Wilykat," Lion-O said by way of comfort. "They can handle themselves. Right now the Berbils need our help, and a few hours won't make much difference in solving _this_ problem I'm afraid." He sighed. "Let's get started." 

During the cleanup and wound-tending, Panthro growled angrily as he cleaned. He was not helping with the wounded; in his mood, he would be more of a hindrance than a help. "Let me get my hands on one of those cowardly bastards," he said more than once, referring to the Mutants. "I'll find out for sure who's behind this." And each time, Lion-O had told him that ThunderCats don't do those kinds of things. They already knew enough to suspect it was the bag of bones, and besides who else was powerful enough to cast such a spell? Panthro knew he was right, but it blew off some steam talking about it, and so finally Lion-O left him alone to grumble. 

*** 

"How old were you when we lost Thundera?" Pumyra asked quietly of Lynx-O as they walked along the streets of Thundera. 

"I was fifty-nine. Why do you ask?" 

"I was just wondering. I was twenty-six, so if this is ten years before the catastrophe, I would have been only sixteen, and you not yet fifty." 

Lynx-O nodded slowly. "Yes." He wondered what she was getting at. 

"I wonder what my younger self would think, seeing me as a ThunderCat." 

That stopped Lynx-O cold, and he thought hard for a minute. 

"Lynx-O?" 

"Pumyra, you lived in Claudon, as did I, but if for some reason the Pumyra that lives on Thundera now were to come to this city, it would be entirely possible for her to meet you." 

Pumyra frowned. "Would that be bad?" 

Lynx-O shook his head. "I don't know, Pumyra. It would not be a good idea to find out either way. We don't need any more distractions or trouble. Your younger self would likely not recognize you...but still, I don;t know what could happen." 

Pumyra nodded and was silent for a while. Then: "Do you know where we're going, Lynx-O?" 

The elderly lynx sighed. "I'm afraid not." He could not even walk freely here; the others had to watch out for him so that he did not run into anything, or trip. There were devices that would allow a blind man or woman to be able to "see" where he or she was going; they sent an electronic signal to a device worn on the hand, like a simple Braille board made only for the purpose of avoiding obstacles. "If we could get a hand pad for me to use somewhere, I would be better off, but they are quite a lot of money, and I don't believe we have a credit or coin among us." Most merchants on Thundera accepted either, though coin was preferred more widely on the planet than the newer credit system. Credits were still too new, and were difficult to transfer from city to city, never mind different planets. Coin and gem currency was universal. "On Third Earth we have no need of it." 

Pumyra sighed. "Lynx-O, what if we can't get back?" 

"There _must_ be a way back, Pumyra. There was a way here, there is be a way back. We need only to find it. I become more and more convinced that this is a deed of Mumm-Ra's doing. Rifts in space do not just suddenly appear. If that is so, he may have used an item of power. Perhaps if we found what it was." 

"But what if we _can't?_" Pumyra's voice held a note of urgency. "If we were stuck here on Thundera, we could make it here again, right? I mean this _is_ our home, we could live here, maybe on the other side of the planet where our other selves never went." 

Lynx-O frowned. He did not care for the tone in Pumyra's voice. He had begun to suspect that Pumyra was having doubts about returning to Third Earth at all, and that could not happen. The longer he and the others stayed, the greater the danger of them changing something that should not be changed, of changing history from the course it must take. "No, Pumyra, that would not be right." 

"But if we _were_ stuck here we'd _have_ to, right?" She sounded almost desperate for Lynx-O to agree. 

Only for the sake of ending the argument and getting back to the task of figuring this out, Lynx-O nodded. "Yes, if we could not find our way back we would have little choice. But if we work together, we _will_ find our way back." 

"Right," Pumyra said, more agreeable now that she had gotten the answer she wanted, but there was no conviction in her voice. 

There was an uncomfortable silence that Snarfer finally broke. "You said we should find someone of the jaguar clan, Lynx-O, do you know of any that live here in Felis?" 

Lynx-O thought. "Not offhand, Snarfer. But I had another idea. The jaguars are a small clan, and their people are widespread. The powerful ones, the ones that are purely jaguar with no other races in their lineage, are difficult to find, but perhaps if we were to find a powerful psychic, a cheetah. He or she could tell us who caused this to happen and what they did to cause it. That would bring us a lot closer to finding out how to get out of this situation." 

"Hmm, that's a good idea!" Snarfer said. "Let's do it, snarfer, snarfer!" 

But Pumyra surprised them by saying, "I don't think that's a good idea." She had again stopped walking and looked troubled. 

Snarfer gave a puzzled frown. "Why not?" 

"Well Lynx-O said that we should make as little contact with the citizens here as we could." Once again her eye roamed the streets, looking at scenes she never thought she would look at again. 

"Yes, I said that. But there is little chance of success if we do not get some kind of help. We simply must reduce the risk as much as possible." 

Pumyra nodded, but she did not look happy; Lynx-O of course could not see her face, but he sensed her hesitation. Even Snarfer thought she was acting strangely, but Lynx-O gave her the benefit of the doubt. He himself had a hard time convincing himself of where he was. "Well come on, team, let's seek out someone who can help us." 

"Right!' Snarfer said. "Find the nearest public terminal?" 

"Yes." 

"Got ya, Lynx-O!" Snarfer scampered on ahead, searching for a public computer terminal, one that listed names and communicator frequencies, and professions. He knew that if there was anyone with the legitimate power of telepathy and psychic clairvoyance, he or she would be in the terminal. The governing body screened them very carefully, and shams were not allowed to practice. Anyone they found in there would be genuine. 

"There!" the young Snarf said triumphantly. He led the others to the corner of a large brick building that looked like a school, and they began to search the directory. 

Part 6 

Part 8 

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	8. Chapter 8

8 

Meanwhile, Cheetara was busy being disoriented. "What in the name of Thundera!" She looked around at the bleak gray street she had suddenly appeared over, and looked up at the dull, dark orange sky. "Snarf?" 

"Whoa!" A second later, she saw the Snarf high above, struggling to get control of his vehicle. He finally righted it and soared down next to Cheetara. "What happened?" 

"I don't know, Snarf, let's land over there in that alley." The pair landed and got off of the craft. "I'm not sure what happened," she said. "All I remember is we were fighting those Mutants at the Berbil Village." She looked up at the sky. "And I get the terrible feeling we are not even on Third Earth anymore. The sky never does _this_." 

"Oooo, snarf, snarf, this is no good." He looked around. They were in an unattractive alleyway, with a full trash bin and two brick walls. "Any ideas where we are?" 

Cheetara shook her head. "No. Let's go out and take a look though." The cheetah led Snarf out of the alley and into the streets. The orange sky was the darkest orange she had ever seen in a sky, nothing like on Thundera. There the sky was sometimes orange, but it was a bright orange that reminded Cheetara of Third Earth's sunsets. This was an oppressive color that almost seemed to sap one's energy; dull, and dark. She suspected it was almost night to boot, and hot. 

"Uhhh, Cheetara?" Snarf's voice sounded wavery and thin. 

Cheetara snapped out of her reverie and looked up. Her heart sank, and she felt a chill make its way down her spine, while at the same time her head was hot with dread. A group of about twenty of the planet's citizens had gathered from the buildings, some slinking curiously out, but most had an expression of hate and hostility. "Mutants!" 

One jackal snarled. He looked smaller even than Jackalman, and as Cheetara looked, they all looked smaller, somehow out of proportion, as if this planet were on a scale of three-fourths to one to the normal Plundaar. Perhaps another planet housed similar species? One that they had never heard of? No sudden moves, she decided, don't make any threatening gestures. "We are not here to cause trouble," she said slowly, wondering if they even spoke Basic at all. "We came here by accident. What is this place?" 

The jackal that had snarled at her stepped forward. He was a full three inches shorter than the Thunderian. "A Thunderian!" he said with a mixture of wonder and anger. "On Plundaar!" He spoke with a strange accent, strange even for a Mutant. 

Well so much for that theory. The crowd was looking unpleasant, and Snarf cowered against his companion. "Oh, this isn't good at all, snarf, snarf." But why did they all look so small? The jackal continued. He was apparently in too much awe at the moment to make a move against the cheetah and the Snarf. 

"And a Snarf! Cobran, I thought that there were no more Snarfs left! I thought they were all massacred in the last wars with New Thundera!" 

_New_ Thundera? Cheetara was astounded by the phrase the jackal had used: _New_ Thundera! "Thundera is no more," she said, narrowing her eyes. 

The jackal looked at her as if she were a moron. "I said New Thundera, cat. Are you as stupid as you look?" Well at least that's normal, Cheetara thought. Mutants never were too bright. 

Or polite, for that matter. 

The reptile, some kind of snake, shook his head. "Don't look at me. I've not even seen a Thunderian for years." 

Cheetara's mind was reeling. A suspicious was dawning on her, a suspicion that was totally impossible, but here it was in front of her. 

"Well it doesn't matter," the jackal said, his eyes narrowing. "This Thunderian is here, and Thunderians aren't allowed on Plundaar." 

Okay, now things were getting ugly. Cheetara sensed what the jackal was going to do a split second before he whipped out a long switchblade-like knife out of his belt and lunged for her. Cheetara grabbed Snarf and took off, at top cheetah speed, running down the street of an impossible Plundaar. How many years into the future? Centuries? Millennia? Long enough for a New Thundera to be established or found, or perhaps for Third Earth to be renamed? Long enough for the Mutants to evolve into a smaller race, and for there to be another series of wars between her people and Plundaar? And worst of all, for the Snarf race to be obliterated! 

There was a babble of shouts as Snarf and Cheetara made their escape. The Mutants were already after them, though they had no chance catching her. One had called the authorities, and had a manhunt...or rather a cathunt out for Cheetara and the Snarf. 

Cheetara stopped to catch her breath in another smelly alleyway. She didn't know what the Mutants could possibly eat for their meals to make their garbage so much ranker than that of most other species she'd ever come across, but it sure was fetid. She wrinkled her nose. 

"Where are we, Cheetara?!" Snarf wailed as she put him down. He began to pace agitatedly. 

"Shh! I don't know Snarf," she replied in a low voice, and stood upright, running a nervous hand through her spotted mane and looked around. The street seemed deserted of most people. Of course from what she had seen so far, she thought that most of the normal, unarmed citizens, even being Mutants, probably did not venture out of their houses after dark. Or maybe there was a curfew. Or hell maybe no one lived here, she thought; there was no way to tell. Most of the buildings were boarded up, with rotted wood or metal planks over the windows and doors. "Obviously this is Plundaar, but not like any Plundaar I remember." 

"Have you ever even been to Plundaar, Cheetara?" Snarf asked. 

Cheetara hesitated, then nodded, siting on an old wooden crate in the alley. They had escaped their pursuers for the moment, and she needed to rest, anyway."Yes." 

Intrigued, Snarf stopped his pacing to listen. And besides, anything she knew could help them! 

"During the wars on Thundera, there was a young man of the armies. He was one of the few that were not of the four main species that fought, he was a wolf Mutant. I was seventeen, he eighteen, and he never killed doishonorably." 

There was a snort from Snarf at that. 

But Cheetara shook her head. "He didn't. I watched him for a long time, since I had never seen a wolf before from Plundaar, and he would never kill a downed opponent. I heard him speaking to some of his fellows about not liking to kill dishonorably. They ridiculed him for it." Cheetara's voice took on a distant quality, almost talking to herself and forgetting her small companion. "That angered me. I had met only a handful of people from Plundaar that knew honor, and all they could do was ridicule him and walk away" 

She chuckled a bit, then went on. "My parents would have killed me if they knew what I did, but I walked up to where he kept his camp, not far from the farm that my parents kept." She laughed at Snarf's surprised look. "No, I am not of noble birth. I am of pure cheetah birth, but my parents owned a chintan vegetable farm. I earned my title in the ThunderCats not long after by training hard and proving that I could uphold the Code of Thundera. But I met with him. He did not strike at an unarmed girl, and we talked. It was not long before I fell in love with him." 

"You fell in love with a Mutant?" Snarf's voice was incredulous as he sat up on a wooden crate. "I bet your parents weren't too happy with that." 

Cheetara also sat. "No. My father was furious to the point of keeping me confined to the house. He nearly took his belt to me, although I was far too old to be spanked. My mother calmed him down while I stormed out of the house, angry at his prejudice." 

Cheetara lapsed into silence, and Snarf asked, "So what happened?" Listening to Cheetara's tales of her days before being a ThunderCats could almost make him forget where he was. 

She laughed a little. "When I turned eighteen, he took me to Plundaar. We had seen each other many times, and since he had seen my home world, I wanted to see his. He was through with his time in the armies, and I knew that he loved me as much as I loved him, so he brought me there." 

Snarf frowned, noticing that Cheetara was on the verge of tears. "Did something happen?" 

Cheetara growled, tears beginning to burn at her eyes. "Yes. It was only three days before his former superiors found out. Apparently there was a law about taking a Thunderian as a mate on Plundaar. I was banned from the planet, and he was tried and executed for treason." She wiped her eyes. 

"Awww..." Snarf was not sure what to say, and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, snarf, snarf." 

Cheetara sighed and stood, shaking her head, and dashing the memories from her mind. "Thanks, Snarf, but I took far too much time talking about that. We're in a dangerous situation, we must find out how to get out of this miserable place." She took a moment to calm her mind, to clear it of its anger and sorrow; those could only hinder them now. 

"Yeah! And back home." Snarf rose again on his tail. "Any ideas?" 

Cheetara shook he head. "Not a one. We can't walk freely, since that jackal said our kind is not allowed here. We will have to be careful. Let's stick to the alleyways." 

"You got it." Keeping to the shadows of the deepening night, the two companions skulked the streets. They had no idea what they were looking for, but they knew they could not stay there. 

Part 7 

Part 9 

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	9. Chapter 9

9 

They had searched all day and found nothing. There were no Thunderians in Felis that could help the three weary Thunderians in their search, although they did hear of one mayhap on the far side of Thundera. "But that'll take us ages to walk!" Snarfer wailed in frustration. "And we don't have money for the Subsonic or even a transport!" It was startling how easily they had all slipped into speaking of Thunderian things as if nothing had happened. The Subsonic was the planet-wide mode of public transportation. 

"Easy Snarfer," Pumyra said, putting a hand on the agitated Snarf's head. "There's always a way. We can hitch rides, sneak on board the back of transports." She turned a little red. "Yeah, I've done that in my youth. Actually I did a lot of things in my youth I probably shouldn't have." She tried to ignore Snarfer's snicker and Lynx-O's chuckle. Lynx-O knew some of the things she had done as a young woman, like protests on the government and the like, even one time she had streaked through city hall with a group of her friends with anti-authority messages painted on her nude body like the others. Pumyra cleared her throat. "Well, uh, let's go." 

Lynx-O laughed. "Right. It is getting dark, I believe. Colder, anyway." 

"Yup, it's getting to be night and people are going in. It's not cold though." 

"Colder than it was. I am not uncomfortable, however, I am thinking it is late spring here. This psychic you found in the terminal is in what city? Clawst?" 

"Yep!" 

Lynx-O did some quick thinking. "All right, that is on the far side of the planet from this location." He sighed. "That will take a while going by vehicle, providing we are able to travel far enough like that. We may have to walk a great deal." The trio might be able to hitch rides from stop to stop on the sub train called the Subsonic, which actually traveled at the speed of sound (the "sub" part meant it was underground) but they would not be able to ride the whole way. Same with any transport they managed to hitch a ride on. "For now," Lynx-O said. "We must find a place to rest for the night and we can continue in the morning." 

Pumyra nodded. "Yes, that's a good idea. Any ideas, Lynx-O?" 

"I would say a wooded area outside the town. It is a warm night, and should be no large predators close to the cities." 

Pumyra nodded once more. "Good idea. I think I know where there are some woods where we won't be trespassing." 

"Then lead the way." 

They found their sleeping area and settled down in the soft moss beneath a tree. If one had happened upon them it would probably look somewhat cute, the two cats and Snarfer curled up together under a tree, but they went unbothered the night. 

The next day however... 

When Pumyra and her friends awoke, they realized that they were hungry. That was another problem that they had not thought of. "How do we get something to eat here?" Pumyra asked. 

Lynx-O frowned. "A very good question. If worst comes to worst, we may have to hunt something, but I detest the idea of killing. Perhaps I can eat meat, but I do not like the idea of killing something myself. Not to mention the fact that we should do as little as possible that might alter events in the future. That is what is the most important here. We can not endanger anyone!" 

Pumyra sighed. "This is going to be a sticky situation." 

They had little time to say anything else before they heard a growl. 

"Wh-what was that?" Snarfer stammered. "It sounds awfully close...and big, too..." 

Lynx-O frowned. "I'm not sure. I am no wildlife expert; it does sound big, though, I suggest we move on into the city once more and try to hop a transpo--" Lynx-O was cut off by a loud roar, and his keen ears picked up nearly silent feet running in the leaves, and turned. 

"Lynx-O!!" Snarfer screeched, as from underneath the foliage a large canine beast burst from the bushes and leapt at Lynx-O, knocking the older ThunderCat to the ground. 

Lynx-O let a short yell of surprise and brought his arm up to ward off the jaws he knew would be going for his throat, and those very jaws clamped onto his arm. He stifled a scream. 

After only a moment of shock, as Lynx-O desperately tried to ward off the creature long enough to get to his Light Shield on his other arm, Pumyra took her own weapon, her sling, and loaded it with an explosive capsule. She had to be careful, this was a pretty strong capsule, as all of hers were, and she had to be careful not to hit her friend. 

As Snarfer screeched, and Lynx-O wrestled with the beast, Pumyra danced around as if in hand to hand combat, looking for an opening. After a few moments that seemed to stretch out forever, she struck! 

The beast yelped, and let go of Lynx-O to turn on the one who had attacked it. Its angry silver eyes shone in the bright morning sunlight as he jumped, not giving the cougar enough time to reload! 

Lynx-O was hurt, his arm bleeding badly, but he staggered to his feet and snapped open his Light Shield, aiming for the place where his ears told him the canine must be. He let the shield charge up the light energy and fired. 

The beast yelped again, staggering sideways, trying to keep up his attack, but clearly too dazed to manage it. 

All three jumped at an energy shot that lanced past them to strike the beast, who dropped to the ground, silent. Deathly silent. It had been killed. 

"You folks all right?" came a new voice. 

Lynx-O did not recognize the voice of course, but Pumyra nodded shakily. "I-I think so. Lynx-O! You're bleeding!" 

"I'm all right, Pumyra." He did not want to be admitted to a hospital; minimum contact. 

"It doesn't look so, sir," one of the Thunderians said respectfully. "I'm Cougiir, and this is Jaguarundin, we have a hovercar not too far away, let us take you to a hospital." 

Lynx-O was about to refuse once more, but Pumyra settled it. Looking worriedly at him as he held his arm, and looking him over with her semi- trained healer's eyes, she said, "You've been clawed in half a dozen places and you're bleeding, come on, Lynx-O." She turned to the two Thunderians who had apparently been out hunting, and introduced all of them. "We appreciate it." Luckily, the hospitals of Thundera did not charge their patients. 

"You are welcome," the woman said, as they made for the city. 

Lynx-O spoke pleasantly to them, but he was stewing inside. He did not often stew. Though this might be necessary-a serious infection or blood loss was the last thing they needed-but he was still angry at this turn of events. He was angry at Mumm-Ra, and angry at himself for not reacting fast enough to avoid the beast, and angry even at Pumyra for accepting the hunters' offer. 

After Lynx-O had been treated, which involved stitches and giving their names, they were off on their quest once more, sitting uncomfortably in the cargo hold of a crowded transport that had not noticed the trio sneaking aboard. Lynx-O now sported a glaring white bandage on his tanned fur, and some nasty looking stitched claw wounds with salve on them. He also bore a scowl. 

"You all right, Lynx-O?" Pumyra asked. 

"I will be fine, I am in a little pain, but it is nothing I cannot handle." 

"No, I mean otherwise. You look angry." 

Lynx-O sighed. "I am just frustrated, Pumyra. Seems like as soon as we begin, we are detained...and I had wanted to keep contact with others to a minimum, and it's is not happening." 

Pumyra clasped his shoulder. "Lynx-O, you could not have prevented that." 

"I know, I know. I'll be all right, Pumyra." He smiled and clasped her hand briefly and sat back to wait out the ride. 

Part 8 

Part 10 

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	10. Chapter 10

10 

Time, constant for all that had been hurled into a different realm of it, passed. Cheetara and Snarf had passed two days on their alien Plundaar, alien not just because it was the home world of their sworn enemies, but because the residents were so far from what Cheetara and Snarf were used to. Now that they had spent some time lurking in the shadows, and observing, they noticed much different than the fact that they were on the average a lot smaller than the ones they knew. As they looked at the jackals, they noticed that they were bigger in relation to the other Mutant species. They were no longer the scavengers and the weaklings of the mutant world. They did not rule it, but they no longer groveled at the mightier feet of the Reptilians and the Monkians. 

As they watched, they saw the opposite had happened with the avian species of the planet, but though they may have been scrawnier than Vultureman ever was, their technical talk baffled Cheetara at times, and she was pretty adept with a machine. Not as good as Panthro, but she knew her way enough around mechanics. 

She and Snarf made their way through what must have been the lowest of the Mutant citizenry, for as they went on, the buildings became bigger, and the boards across doors and windows became scarce, then disappeared. Dwellings began to take on a severe look, mostly they were made of metal, with sharp angles, and strong technological hints about them. Looking at one as she and her small companion sat huddled underneath in the cargo hold of a transport, much like Lynx-O and the others, Cheetara thought that there were some high tech gadgets in there that Panthro would love to get his hands on. She was peeking through a slit from the slightly open cargo door. 

"This is humiliating," Snarf complained. "We've been here two days, stowing away with a bunch of Mutant luggage!" He wrinkled his nose. "Mutants sure didn't change their smell any, snarf, snarf." 

"I know," Cheetara said wearily. It had been a trying two days, but she was trying to make it somewhere they could hop a spacecraft, stow away if they had to. "But I don't see any other way. I have the terrible feeling we are trapped in time, and that won't be fixed with a spacecraft. But we need to get off of Plundaar. We can't possibly take the time to figure out how to get home when we have to keep running for our lives." 

"I know, I know." 

"And I don't dare go into a trance. We can not risk one of us having to spend days recovering for anything." She paused. "You _or_ me." 

The pair sat huddled in the cramped space, Snarf wedged between two large crates, Cheetara crouched on a trunk, her back bumping against the roof of the cargo hold every time the hovering transport hit an air pocket or made a sharp stop or turn. They remained grimly silent. 

When they felt the vehicle stop, Cheetara was ready to run if needed. She looked out, saw no one, and urged Snarf out. Running was not necessary now, and Cheetara would not exhaust herself doing it unless she had to. She and Snarf only slunk away from the transport before it disgorged its motley Mutant load. 

"Great Jaga!" Cheetara breathed in startled awe, as she and Snarf came out from behind the building they had skulked around to keep out of sight. They were on a high hill overlooking the main city, where the transport had been heading. Cheetara had seen that main city before, and it had looked nothing like this. 

The two refugees looked down on a city, a large city that sprawled out across what used to be uninhabitable jungles and forests. In the dim orange light, the sliver colored edifices shone a bloody red, giving the whole place an almost surreal look that made Cheetara dizzy for a fraction of a second as she stared. What she remembered from that unpleasant ordeal with the young wolf soldier was a large city, yes, though not as large as this. FUrthermore, it has looked more to her then like a series of seedy shops and dwellings and bars, which was what it was. There was the center of the whole town, a fortress not unlike Castle Plundaar, where the Plundaarian high council lived and worked. Plundaar was ruled by eight Mutants who acted together as king to the rest of the planet. Not that they could ever work together long enough to effect any kind of order, at the time. 

What confronted Cheetara and Snarf now were spires and towers and skyscrapers, all made of the glaring metal that reflected, deepened, and intensified the light from the sky and the red sun. She saw nothing there she would classify as "seedy", and the gargoyle-shaped fortress was gone; in its place was the biggest building she had ever seen, even in Cloudon on Thundera. It was shaped like a tower of metal building blocks, and had a high stone wall around it. It looked sturdier than Castle Plundaar ever was, and Cheetara had no doubt that it was laden with electronic alarms and complicated computer systems, all designed to keep assassins out. She imagined hundreds of workers in the building maintaining these systems, and imagined the hundreds more that must clean and the place and polish the outside, which Cheetara was sure must be done. 

"Wow..." Snarf was as much surprised as Cheetara. "Let's get a closer look." 

"Right." The Thunderian travelers crept closer to the city, closer until they were at the edge, looking up at the buildings. Mutants walked everywhere, mean, brutal-looking as always, but with a hard confidence that Cheetara couldn't explain. 

"They walk like the lords of the galaxy," Snarf said in a low tone. 

Cheetara's eyes widened a bit and a chill of unease crept down her spine. That was it. That was the reason it had taken such a hard look to realize they were so much smaller. S-S-Slithe and Jackalman and the other all walked with a slump, or hunched shoulders, used to skulking, and used to the defeat and the hard labor of trying to win a battle they were destined to lose. But these people walked upright, proud - no, it wasn't pride, but something darker, and bigger. This was the arrogance of a species that owned the galaxy, and knew it A species that had defeated any that got in their way, and the realization of this made Cheetara shudder. "Great Jaga, that jackal never said what became of the Thunderians." 

In their awe and shock, the pair never even saw the Reptillian that snuck up behind them. They did not see the ax-handle whose shadow fell behind the pair thanks to the rising sun. They did not see that ax handle descend sharply on Cheetara's skull. 

"SNAAAARF!" Snarf wailed as Cheetara let out a short yelp and collapsed unconscious to the ground. The small animal turned, but was far too slow to react to the reflexes of the lizard as he swung sideways, clipping the Snarf on the side of the head and sending him sprawling next to Cheetara. 

Scalan laughed. "Pathetic. Maybe Thunderians were once the heroes of the galaxy, but now they are just laughable." He shook his head and went to the nearest com and called the authorities. He would receive a reward for this. 

*** 

"Ohhhhh, boy..." 

Cheetara woke to find she had one whopper of a headache, and slowly opened her eyes. There was no glare of lights to hurt her head, and for that she was grateful. What she was not grateful for was the hard, cold cement she felt underneath her, or the weight and chill of the heavy manacles that bound her hands within a foot of each other. She also was not grateful for the bolt of pain that flashed across her head, giving the image of lightning across her eyes when she tried to sit up. With a groan she lay back down, closed her eyes, and waited for it to subside. 

After a few long moments, she tried once again, very slowly pushing herself to a sitting position and opening her eyes once more. 

It was not pitch black; there was the smallest amount of light coming in from a barely lit hallway beyond the bars of the small cell she was in. She looked around. No window, the cell was barely long enough for her to lie down in, and she knew that had Tygra or Lion-O been in there he would not be able to lie straight. There was a torn mattress on one side, and an ancient looking toilet with an equally old-looking metal sink alongside it. A prison then. A Plundaarian prison. 

She felt a rush of fear as she realized this, knowing of only a very few people who had gotten out of Plundaarian prisons alive. She had heard stories of Thunderians caught on Plundaar in the later years as the wars started up again right before Thundera's destruction. They had not come back. Plundaar had become more hostile for her kind in the end, and she knew even then she had been lucky to get out alive the first time. Would she be so fortunate now? "Snarf?" she called softly, hissing at the throb in her head as she spoke. "Are you there?" Nothing. She feared for him, knowing that here Snarfs were considered even lower than felines. She feared for her safety. 

But she feared for his life. 

Part 9 

Part 11 

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	11. Chapter 11

11 

"Hey!" a jackal snickered, shoving one of his fellow jackals out of his way. "It's MY ball!" 

"No way!" The smaller jackal tried to take the red ball back but was unsuccessful, and the jackal Mutant who had stolen it kicked it from foot to foot as he ran. 

A woman from the other team laughed and darted in front of him to kick the ball out of his reach, maneuvering it skillfully down the makeshift court towards the back wall, where a chalk goal had been drawn. 

"Go, GO, Lizdi!, caaaaw!" cried one of the vultures on her team. 

The guards that were on duty at the lowly prison were having a game of _torskkk_, a Plundaarian ball game consisting of two teams, two goals, a kick ball, and few rules. Any way you could get the ball to touch the wall or fly into the net, sometimes even using baskets or barrels as the goal, was accepted with one exception: hands could not be used. Tails could though. 

"Hey!" Lizdi hissed as a large male from the other team stole her ball with his large tail and batted it across the room. Everyone, both teams, laughed as it splatted against the wall. "You were lucky!" Lizdi accused with a coy grin. 

The big lizard leered at her. "Maybe in more ways than one." 

She cocked her head. "Mayhap." She took the ball, rolled it up again, and drop kicked it to one of her teammates. "IF your team can win!" She ran after it, accepted a pass, and darted by the big lizard with it, a clear challenge. 

He looked surprised for a minute, then grinned widely. "You're on!" 

In the damp, filthy cell Cheetara had been thrown into, she lay back on the mattress against the rough walls. She did not even want to know what kind of vermin were in this place, and what kinds of parasites; fleas, lice, mites, anything. Plundaar probably had parasites she had never heard of. 

She was sure of one thing: the prison was not in the almost painfully clean, antiseptic looking main city. She was sure she and Snarf had been thrown into this hellhole of a dump because they were Thunderians, and deserved no better. She growled. She would show them. 

They had taken her staff and her wrist guard, including the sheath where she kept her weapon. They had even found the small dagger she kept in her boot. Well fine. That just made it a challenge. 

She was trying to psyche herself, and she knew it. She wanted to pace, but her head hurt too much to permit it without a lot of discomfort. She wanted to kick the place apart, but if she couldn't even pace, that was out, too. 

Even despite the offending headache, the ThunderCat jumped to her feet instantly at a bray of raucous laughter that suddenly exploded in the hallway beyond, as someone, a group of people it sounded like, came through an outer door. She heard the sound of it being locked afterwards. 

A group of plug-ugly, sweaty Mutants came into her line of sight at her door, and one of the big males unlocked it. He was a Reptillian, and he was looking pretty damned happy about something. 

Cheetara growled at them, knowing that now was not the time. She would be downed before she could think about moving, even with her speed. There were too many of them, and they were blocking the door. "What did you--" she began to demand angrily, when a smaller Reptillian, one she thought might have been female, hurled a bright red ball at her, knocking her over. She had not expected a ball to be thrown at her, although as she landed, the impact sending many interesting looking shapes of light and pain through her throbbing head, she noticed this ball felt curiously warm, and smelled suspiciously like... 

Only clinging to the barest consciousness, her companion she had worried about sprawled out on the ground, and lay there, panting for breath. "Snarf!" Cheetara forgot about her own headache when she saw the condition her friend was in, and became genuinely alarmed. At first when he had sprawled out, she had thought he was dead, but a closer look showed he was breathing, although it was clear this was not a pleasant task for the Snarf's body. "Oh Snarf, what in the name of Thundera did they do to you?" She gently touched his shoulder, eliciting a sharp, almost feral, outcry of pain. She abruptly pulled her hand away. "I'm sorry." 

Growling low, she got once again to her feet and yelled out the bars of her cell, "HEY! Hey you miserable Mutant bastards! Someone get in here, Snarf needs medical attention!" She got no answer, although she knew there was a guard outside the door. She had not understood anything they had said, as it had been in their own language, but she'd heard one of them plunk his tail down in a chair outside the door. "I know you hear me! You want one of your prisoners to die!?" Stupid question. She was speaking to a species whose fathers, or grandfathers, or whoever the hell it was that had fought that last series of wars, annihilated the species for whom she was trying to get some help. She sighed and went back to him. 

"Snarf...Snarf, I'm going to move you to the mattress, okay? It's going to hurt, but lying on this cold floor you'll probably catch pneumonia, or something." 

Snarf managed a slight nod of his head, and gritted his teeth. He didn't move his head again. It hurt too much. 

"Okay. Brace yourself." Cheetara slipped her hands beneath the Snarf's limp body, trying to put out of her head his pained cry. As gently as she could, she set him down on the filthy mattress, having the sudden grim thought that as dirty as the place was, moving him to a warmer spot was probably a useless gesture. She'd have been better off leaving him on the floor. 

The cheetah sighed and sat next to him, softly smoothing back the fur on his head, which seemed to have taken little abuse compared to the rest of his body. It had come out the least scathed, as his head had been tucked in when he was made into a Snarfball. "By Jaga, Snarf, I'll get us out of this pit. I swear." But as she lay back against the wall perpendicular to the one that the mattress lined, she doubted her vow. She doubted it a great deal. 

*** 

It had been three days since the ThunderCats had been hurled to all the corners of the universe, and across Time itself. On Third Earth, Lion-O and the others had managed to locate and get rid of all the portals, using the scanners on the Feliner's, and closing them by tossing a pebble or a stick through. They could only pray that no innocent creature, or no ally of theirs had unwittingly walked through one, as there was no way to tell for sure. They looked in each one, but found no one. And so they hoped. 

Bengali on his world has been falling for three days. He had gotten used to it, almost as if he were hovering motionless in the air, had it not been for the wind. The first day had gone by endlessly, and he had often tried kicking out in air, trying to move himself, trying in vain to get somewhere there was something to hang onto, to stop this endless, mad fall. He had found nothing. 

After many hours of this, long after he normally would have stayed awake, he fell into an exhausted sleep. And that was one of the strangest things he had ever done; sleeping in midair. 

The next day, he had awakened disoriented, wondering why the wind was blowing so hard into the Tower of Omens, And then the memories slowly surfaced, and he became completely awake, clenching his fists and screaming as loud as he could; screaming in frustration and fear, and anger. He wanted to strike out. He wanted to lash out at something. He wanted a wall he could kick, or a door he could punch through...but there was nothing to strike. There was nothing to hit but the air. 

After he had calmed down, he had passed through a thunderstorm. That had been equally fascinating and terrifying. He had always liked storms, and being in the midst of one fascinated him to no end, but it was dangerous also, as lightning flashed through the system, which could have been miles wide. One was close enough for him to feel the heat, warming the rain that had drenched him, and scaring the living daylights out of the young ThunderCat. 

Then he had moved out of it, out to the side. This was an interesting experiment, as he was traveling at the same rate it was, so he could watch the storm rage on, right at his eye level. If he ever got out of there, he thought that as horrifying as this experience was, it would have some details he would _love_ to tell the others about. The storms raged here and there, sometimes ending in a few minutes, and some like this one raging for hours on end. Sometimes he could see three or four of them around him, and more in the distance. The atmosphere chanelled the light from the stars, making it seem like midday in the strange doughnut of air, one of the rarest ecosystems in the universe. 

Wouldn't Tygra have a field day in this place? 

Between fits of shakes caused by his growing frustration of being in a constant fall, and angry lash-outs where he struck at the heavy, humid air of that alien world of atmosphere, he experimented. He tumbled in the air, or turned over, so that the maddening wind was not constantly hitting him in the face. He found that he could move by turning a somersault, although to stop, it took several minutes to stabilize himself. He could move from side to side. Finally coming to the realization that he would die of hunger if he didn't do something, he began to move steadily to his left, hoping beyond hope to encounter something. Anything. 

After a second period of sleep, Bengali began to feel despair. He was ravenously hungry, and had seen no other signs of life on this planet, although he did not think it was a planet anymore, as he saw no signs of land. But that was the only thing he could call it. There was no word in any language he knew that could describe this. And so he only fell, edging slowly to one side of the massive loop that was the world he had fallen into. 

*** 

On Thundera, Lynx-O and his crew had finally reached the little city they had been looking for. "You know I remember something about that," Pumyra said. 

"Sorry?" Lynx-O inquired. It had been a tense few days, and even he was out of temper and moody. 

"That creature. The Wolfbeast." 

"What did you hear?" 

"Well I remember hearing that on the news-cast. The Wolfbeast had escaped someone's private zoo/aviary, and gone on a rampage through the town, and was killed by a pair of...hunters... Wow." 

Lynx-O thought about this and nodded. "I do not remember the story, but those hunters we met were _meant_ to kill that beast. We are fortunate that it did happen. Who knows who might have been killed by it had they not. Perhaps you or I." 

Pumyra remained silent. 

A good deal later, they stood at the modest, yet comfortable looking house of the Thunderian they had sought the last three days. "Well we're here," Pumyra said." 

"Yep," Snarfer agreed. He was too tired to say more. 

Lynx-O sighed, as weary as the others. "All right, let's talk to him." 

Part 10 

Part 12 

Table of Contents   
ThunderCat Stories Page   
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	12. Chapter 12

12 

"Yes?" A handsome, male, spotted face looked out of the door and regarded his harried, tired looking guests, instantly taking in every feature of them as he was used to doing. He noticed the obvious: that the lynx was blind and had been injured. He saw the puma had torn her tunic and that her belt doubled as a weapon, as he had often seen. He noticed that the Snarf wore a belt of sorts, unlike most of his fellows. He also noticed that this Snarf looked agitated, not that it was unusual for a Snarf to be so. 

They had decided that Lynx-O would do the talking. Though he had never formally trained, he did have somewhat of a sixth sense, inborn as his species sometimes tended to have mild psychic powers, and developed because of the loss of his sights. He immediately liked the cheetah, and though he could not see his face, in his mind, he knew what he looked like. "Hello," he said. "My friends and I have gotten into a rather dire situation, and we need some assistance. May we talk with you?" 

The cheetah smile warmly, his calm demeanor hiding a force of power that even Cheetara had never dreamed her kind was capable of. "Yes, of course," he said in a soft-spoken voice. He opened the door wide into a comfortable looking living room colored in soothing earth tones. "Please come in." 

"Thank you." Their guest's soft tones were deceptive. Lynx-O could feel that this man carried far more power than he showed. He also sensed that he was of good heart, which was lucky. A strong power of any sort in the hands or minds of evil was never a good thing. 

"May I ask your names?" 

Lynx-O had moved cautiously in the unfamiliar room, but turned and extended a hand. "My apologies for not introducing myself. We had had a very trying few days. my name is Lynx-O, this is Pumyra, and our young friend is Snarfer." 

"Cheetaan." The man shook his hand. "Pleased to meet you. Please have a seat." He paused then added considerately, "There is a couch directly behind you, Lynx-O." 

"Thank you." He sat, and heard his companions sit as well. 

"I will return in a moment, my friends. Excuse me." Cheetaan smiled and left the room headed for his kitchen. 

Lynx-O could not help but immediately like the man. Some people were like that, and unfortunately some were insincere or deceptive. Cheetaan was neither. 

"Boooy, I sure hope he can help us. I'm not sure if he likes or not, snarfer, snarfer." He paused, then made a nervous purring sound. "Maybe he think we're some kind of criminals or tricksters! What if he sends us to prison, then we'll _never_ get out!" 

Even Pumyra had to smile at the poor little guy, and she shook her head, wondering where he got his sometimes paranoid ideas. "Calm down, Snarfer, I'm sure he's not going to send us to prison." Then she paused and added in a light hearted tease, "Don't tell me a seasoned ThunderCat like yourself can't handle a few authorities." 

"Well...!" Snarfer wanted to argue, but when someone has just called you a seasoned ThunderCat, you really couldn't wimp out anymore. "I guess you're right." He sat down and put his hand on his chin and tried very hard to look unruffled. 

Pumyra laughed aloud and gave him a companionable hug. "Easy, Snarfer. We'll be all right." For now she had forgotten her long thoughts and musings of the past three days. She was feeling all right now, away from the familiar scenes, and in less familiar territory. 

Cheetan returned with a small tray of four drinks and a bowl of pretzels and set them down on the circular table and grinned mildly at his guests. "Please help yourselves," he said taking his drink. "Now what can I help you with?" 

"It's all right," Lynx-O said softly to the others, feeling their hesitation. This man meant them no harm, and he knew it. "Well first of all, we have a slightly unusual situation. How much do you charge for your services?" 

"As much as the client can afford. I do want to make enough for a living, but I don't like to be greedy. I try not to be; I don't like greed." 

Lynx-O nodded. "Fair enough." They had no means with which to pay him, but he would try and find a way. He did not like leaving a debt unpaid. "All right. The first thing I must tell you is that I am a ThunderCat, as are Pumyra and Snarfer." 

Lynx-O told the whole tale, Pumyra and Snarfer breaking in here and there with a correction, or a forgotten detail. Through the whole story the cheetah only sat quietly and listened, and did not interrupt. 

When they were finished both Snarfer and Pumyra expected to see skepticism, disbelief, even scorn on the man's face, but they saw none of those things. He only said, "Lynx-O, may I have permission to scan your thoughts?" In this way he would glean if this was the truth or sham, although his base instincts told him as fantastic as it seemed, these visitors spoke the truth. 

Lynx-O nodded his head, giving his quiet assent. 

Pumyra started to say something in protest, then fell silent. Lynx-O only remained alert, not so much physically as mentally. This was a moment of trust, a dangerous thing to allow a psychic inside your head. Here it would be revealed if the lynx's own sense had been true once more. 

Cheetaan closed his eyes and regulated his breathing, performing an action he often used for scanning the memories of traumatized children to find what happened, and how to help them overcome the ordeal. 

After a moment he opened his eyes. "I see no sham, and I will not charge for helping the protectors of this Third Earth." 

Pumyra let out a breath she did not know she had been holding, and Snarfer was more blatant in his relief, slouching back on the couch with a relieved sigh. Lynx-O only nodded. "Can you help us?" 

Cheetaan looked at him earnestly. "To some extent. I am well trained and my sixth sense is greatly developed. But I am no Mage, and have so such powers. I can tell you the situation, and all that I can gather from what I have available, but it will ultimately be up to you to fix the situation." 

Lynx-O nodded once more. "Yes, that is more than acceptable my friend." 

The cheetah stood and closed his eyes. Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Snarf all became very quiet, as they did when Cheetara went into one of her own trances. They expected some unseen psychic force to start spinning the cheetah's body as sometimes happened with Cheetara when she was summoning a difficult vision, but it did not happen. Nothing visible occurred, other than the cheetah's body tensing, as if performing a feat of strength that no one but him could see, but there was something that they all nevertheless felt. The mood seemed to darken, and it was as if an unseen chilling draft had seeped under the door to make them shiver. They could feel the force of the young cheetah's power, and could feel his very will as he summoned the things he sought. 

After perhaps twenty minutes of this, Cheetaan sat down hard on the chair, visibly exhausted, but not to the point Cheetara was after a lesser vision. Cheetaan's powers were much more developed and controlled. He brought his striking, deep gold eyes to meet those of his guests. Lynx-O's sightless face nevertheless showed his concern and anticipation, by his furrowed brow and his leaned forward posture, and the intense expression. "What did you see, Cheetaan?" he asked in an eager whisper. 

After taking a moment to collect himself, Cheetaan replied, "Your suspicious were right, Lynx-O, this is the work of the one called Mumm-Ra." There was a growl from Pumyra and a gasp from Snarfer. Cheetaan continued in his intense, low tone. "Bengali, Cheetara, and Snarf have also fallen victim to this spell, but the others, young Lion-O and the others..." he shook his head, having "seen" Lion-O as a man and Lord of the ThunderCats. "They have closed the remaining portals. Luckily no one stumbled on them." He paused to take a drink. "Bengali is in a bad situation, although there is not immediate danger of him being harmed, he is in a landless world, and he must be rescued within the next couple of days, or he will perish from lack of food." 

At this grim news, Pumyra bit her lip and began once again began to think of everything she had pondered since discovering where she was. 

"Cheetara and your uncle, Snarfer, have landed in a more perilous place, they have ended up on Plundaar, far into the future, beyond our generations. They have been caught by the authorities there and put into prison, in a small city there known as _hakint._" 

Lynx-O bowed his head and thought of this information, processing it all in his mind. If only he had the Braille board with him! It could help them all sort the situation out. 

"The only other thing I could 'see' is what may help you the most." The fatigued cheetah took another sip and said, "This demon priest used an ancient spell from the first ages of Earth, one that was based on a phenomenon that happens once every ten or so generations; it is an alignment of stars, resulting in a thinning of the dimensional barrier. I know nothing of other dimensions, but I hope that you can use this information to save your friends." 

Lynx-O stood, and heard their host stand as well, even though it was obvious he was drained. The elderly lynx grasped his arm, and shook his hand warmly. "Thank you, my friend. If there is any way we can repay you, please tell us." 

Cheetaan chuckled a little bit. "No, I would not accept payment for this. I only hope it was some help." 

"It was," Lynx-O said. "When we figure out how to use it. Again thank you." 

"You're welcome." 

As they made their way through the small town where Cheetaan lived, Lynx-O pondered the situation. "Pumyra, we must go to the library. I have a vague idea, but physics was never the strong point of my studies. I want to look a few things up." 

"Sure, Lynx-O," Pumyra said distractedly. Lynx-O was too caught up in the dilemma to notice. 

Sitting on a cold metal chair in the library, Lynx-O had found several physics books in Braille, and he read silently, running his sensitive fingertips over the raised bumps almost quicker than a sighted human could read with his eyes. They were in Basic, all except a Thunderian one, which was all right, as Lynx-O remembered the Thunderian language well. 

"Lynx-O?" Pumyra asked as he read. Snarfer had wandered off to find something to occupy himself with while Lynx-O did his research. "Do you know how Thundera was-" 

"Shhh!" Lynx-O's unusually sharp voice startled her a bit, but she got the message and lowered her own voice. 

"How was it destroyed? Do you know?" 

Lynx-O sighed and closed the book. "Yes," he said finally. "I believe I do." 

Not really having expected an answer for that, Pumyra blinked. "You do?" 

Lynx-O nodded. "I can not be sure, and I have not even told Lion-O this, and if I tell you you must promise to keep it to yourself, but I am a historian, and many's the time I have sat at my Braille board and gone over records and newsclips, and written journals by some of the ThunderCats. Once there was a Mutant army leader named Ratilla..." 

Lynx-O told as much of the story as he could remember, bringing up the Sword of Plundaar, a weapon so terrible that not even the deepest, most fiery pit of proud Thundera could destroy it. 

Pumyra sat, thunderstruck. "Then...then Jaga did it?" she asked in a horrified whisper. 

Lynx-O nodded grimly. "Yes, this is what I believe. This day when he cast the Sword of Plundaar into the pit was almost ten years before Thundera's destruction, and it was only a month later-" 

"-that they felt the first planet-wide tremor," Pumyra answered, her voice shaking. She remembered the news reports, the cold chill she had felt when they reported it was a planet wide event that had no explanation. She remembered panic and riots when the rumors started to fly in the couple of years before the cataclysm. 

"Yes. That is why I think this." 

Pumyra thought as Lynx-O bowed his head for a moment then returned to his work. How did one deal with the intense guilt that he must feel once he has realized that he was responsible for the destruction of his home world, and the deaths of thousands of his countrymen? "I-I'm going to get some air, Lynx-O." 

He nodded, this time it being his turn to be distracted, and Pumyra ran to the door. She had to get some air. 

Cheetaan, answering the door   
Cheetaan 

Part 11 

Part 13 

Table of Contents   
ThunderCat Stories Page   
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	13. Chapter 13

13 

Cheetara spent an uncomfortable and restless night in the Plundaarian prison cell. She had slept for a few brief periods, but kept awakening to check on Snarf, and she became more and more worried. He was in bad shape, not conscious most of the time, and when he was he moaned in pain or talked in delirium. She could do little for him but to cleanse the few open wounds with a piece of her uniform and keep the cool cloth on his forehead. They had been given no food, although they had the water from the faucet; she did not know where this water came from, but though it tasted strongly of minerals, it seemed all right. 

The next morning found her sleeping exhausted on the floor next to her small companion, and the Snarf unconscious again, quiet instead of mumbling in his unsteady dreams. 

When Cheetara did not wake when the two Mutant reptiles, the female from the other day, and a gray-toned male opened the door, the male kicked her viscously in the side. 

With a surprised grunt, Cheetara's eyes flew open and she raised herself blearily up to look at the floor with eyes that could barely see. She was tired. 

The male kicked her again, sending the groggy cheetah over to sprawl on her back. "Get up, you worthless Thunderian!" the male bellowed, and reached down to grab her. 

And now she was mad. Cheetara growled when he reached for him, grabbing his hand and pitching him on the floor. Now it was his turn to be surprised as he hit the floor face first with a yelp of pain as his snout hit. 

Cheetara was on her feet in a minute, to face the woman, but she already had her weapon out, something she had dug up in the prison's storage room, something they had not had to use in a long time. She fired the hand-held pistol. 

When a red beam lanced out to strike Cheetara's chest, she staggered backwards, shook her head, and got up, ready to grab Snarf and make a run for it with her speed, but she couldn't. She couldn't make her limbs move at the speed she wanted, and although she was straining to make her top speed, it was as if she were moving through water. She felt sluggish. Th-Thundranium?" she asked, the one shot at high intensity having been enough to make her have to use the ancient sink for support, and to make her feel nauseous. 

"We Mutants are not as dumb as you miserable cats make us out to be," Lizdi snarled. "We came prepared." 

The gray male groaned and stood up, then snarled angrily and grabbed Cheetara, slamming her into the wall. She let out a sharp outcry as her head struck, and again when he twisted her arm up behind her back. Then she growled and fought to free herself, but the Thundranium had weakened her and she could do little against the strong Mutant. "Get your scaly hands off me, Reptilian!" 

"Shut up, you feline bitch," he growled back. "You're gonna pay for dumping me on the ground." 

"That's enough, Graydon," the female said. "Jackala wants her in for interrogation." 

"I know that!" the gray reptile snapped back." Then he narrowed his eyes at Cheetara, turning back to her. "Afterwards you're mine." He yanked her from the wall and dragged her out the door, not letting go of her arm and the collar of her clothing. Lizdi followed along behind with the Thundranium pistol in case of trouble. 

Once Cheetara had recovered a little from the Thundranium blast, she tried, but another blast sent her reeling. She was not able to give any trouble the rest of the way. 

Jackala turned out to be a small, petite-looking jackal Mutant, a female, with one pale blue eye that rolled aimlessly around in its socket, and a darker, piercing green one that glared hatefully at whomever she looked at. She narrowed her eyes at the cat as she was brought in; she had been waiting for her for ten minutes. Her good eye looked her over with the cruel intent of a tomcat toying with a mouse. "Strap her in," she said with a feminine, but harsh voice. It was a little high, but powerful, and not at all pleasant. 

Cheetara was too drained and sick to put up much of a fight as Graydon and Lizdi strapped her into a metal chair with heavy leather straps, then retreated to a dark corner of the dim room, the same ugly brick as the rest of the prison that she could see. She returned the glare of the jackal, then looked about the room. 

There were the two lizards, the jackal, and two others, simians that looked like they might be identical twins, in the other corner. She looked up above the metal chair to see a face mask of some sort clipped to a metal frame. She quashed the urge to bite her lip and returned her gaze to the jackal. 

Jackala, emotionless except maybe for contempt, gave the cheetah a minute to take in her surroundings. The room was small, and the Mutants were there for intimidation. It was working, but Cheetara refused to show any fear. 

The jackal seemed amused and a little impressed. "Not many would show your stolidity in a situation like this," she said in a low tone to Cheetara, who remained silent. Then she leaned forward and hissed, "I want to know why you're here on Plundaar, you and your pathetic excuse for a hairball, who, I might add, is of a species that doesn't exist anymore." 

Cheetara narrowed her eyes and spit in the jackal's face. "Suck _fiirken!_" she snarled, referring to a Plundaarian beast of burden that was covered with slimy, foul smelling, bristly hairs. Cheetara's Plundaarian love had taught her the fine art of insulting in Plundaarian. Cheetara had gotten such a kick out if it. 

Jackala said nothing, only slowly recoiled with a look of hateful disgust on her face, then suddenly lashed out, swiping her slim claws across Cheetara's face, leaving four thin, bloody trails across Cheetara's face. She let out a quickly surpressed grunt as the jackal wiped her face. 

But she cried out sharply as something thick hit her across the chest, and she opened her eyes to see the little jackal holding a thick rubber cord, and had jut struck her with it. "I could beat the truth out of you, Thunderian, but Graydon over there wants that privilege, and I have better things to do than to waste my time with a piece of Thunderian trash. So I am just going to scan your mind and turn you over to him." She nodded curtly to the two simians, who came forward as one. The one-eyed jackal stepped back only to observe, flicking her eye to a green-lighted screen that was blank at the moment. 

One of the monkeys secured Cheetara's head with a band of leather, tightly enough to the back of chair for it to hurt from the pressure of the band, while the other played with the face mask, which Cheetara could now see was made for the head, not the face. It was fitted onto her and cinched tight, and she felt a breeze on the back of her neck, as one of the simian twins had slid open a small panel on the thin metal back of the chair. 

Cheetara growled lightly as the simian brought something down attached to a wire from above. "What are you doing back there, you filthy ape?" she demanded. 

"Hoo, hoo, shut up, Thunderian. Who are you to talk to a Mutant like that?" 

Cheetara blinked. She had heard hatred, aggressiveness, even courage from a simian Mutant, but never that kind of arrogance. She wondered what kind of shape her home world, the New Thundera that jackal she had first seen here had mentioned was in. Was her race so degraded as to be looked down on by a Plundaarian? 

Her thoughts were interrupted by a thin, sharp pain at the base of her skull, close to the ear, and she yelped. "What the hell!" A needle! A needle was being slipped into the muscle on the side of the neck! "What the hell are you doing?!" she demanded. 

The jackal sighed. "Silence her, Monkran." 

"Hoo, hoo, you got it." One of them left the room for a minute while the other finished sliding the needle in. It had only hurt for a moment as it penetrated skin and muscle, but it had entered the brain, in the precise location that the helmet ensured. A brain had no nerves in it, thus she felt no pain. 

Monkran came back with some cloth, forced her mouth open to stuff it in, then tied it around her mouth, careful not to move or dislodge the contraption. Cheetara made a muffled sound of anger. "Hoo. There." 

Jackala nodded and looked at the display, which was flashing coded numbers across the screen. She would run it through the computer when it was finished. 

The whole thing took little more than ten minutes, and when it was done, the device, but not the gag, was removed. "Take her back to her cell," Jackala said with a malicious smile. "After you're done playing with her." She turned and left the room, carrying a small computer chip that held the data on it form Cheetara's mind. 

Lizardon grinned and moved around in front of Cheetara, taking the rubber cord from the wall. "Jackala wants you alive, for now," he said. Cheetara glared up at him. "But she said anything else is fine with her." Still Cheetara said nothing, and the other Mutants in the room remained, eager to watch the spectacle. 

Lizardon brought his muscular arm back, fully intending to beat the living hell out of the Thunderian woman, but he saw her torn uniform leg, torn to past the knee to make a compress for Snarf's injuries, and a lewd smile crossed his face. "No. I have a much better idea." He set the rubber cord down. 

*** 

"Are you all right, Pumyra?" Lynx-O asked, his face showing concern as he heard his friend's footfalls enter the room. 

"Yes." Her voice sounded strained, but in control. She sighed and sat down. "I'm all right. When...when did Jaga do this?" she asked, her brown eyes looking at Lynx-O intently. "I mean why did none of this show in any records? Why didn't they figure out what caused Thundera's destruction?" 

"I don't know, Pumyra. The Sword of Plundaar holds many magical qualities. Perhaps it did not _want_ to be found, it took months of researching to figure it out. Cheetara helped me, with her gift, although she did not know exactly what I had been researching. I will tell when it is the right time to do so." Lynx-O sighed. As for when, it was 13, Day 47." 

Pumyra frowned. "Is it the Chasm?" She asked, referring to the great fiery pit where Jaga did indeed hurl the accursed sword. 

Lynx-O nodded and sighed. "Yes. And that caused the chain reaction that ultimately destroyed our home world." 

Pumyra nodded. Thirteen, Day 47? But that would be this year! Pumyra remembered the date on the paper they had found. Three days from now, she thought. Only three! She bit her lip and thought furiously while Lynx-O consulted book after book. 

Part 12 

Part 14 

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	14. Chapter 14

14 

"Monkran, Simiann, help me get this wench out of the chair!" 

"Hoo, hoo, our pleasure!" The two twins came forward to release the restrains binding Cheetara to the metal chair, and she immediately began to fight, but the simians were too strong for the weakened Thunderian. 

Graydon laughed. He thought he rather enjoyed seeing her squirm. "Why so nervous, cat?" he asked. "A 'mighty' Thunderian so scared of a Mutant?" His voice was mocking, the words bitter. "Well not so mighty now, you _or_ your pathetic kind." Cheetara stopped fighting long enough to narrow her eyes and glare hatefully at the smug Reptillian. He only laughed. "Tie her hands together and get some irons on her ankles. We need to slow this little cheetah down _some_ way, don't we?" 

Cheetara fought again and kicked at him. Graydon easily avoided her as the two simians complied, and shoved Cheetara roughly to the floor. She hit on her back and was able to make one effort to get back up before Graydon was on her, pinning her down on her back. He saw anger in her eyes, but also fear. That was what he wanted to see. The Reptillian slashed open her uniform with his reptile claws, exposing the Cheetah's torso. She growled in anger, determined not to squirm for this bastard. "Ah a spirited one," he sneered, cupping a breast, then squeezing it viscously. He was satisfied to see a flash of surprised pain cross her eyes and to hear a grunt, muffled by the gag. He narrowed his eyes, leaned forward, and hissed, "When I am through with you, you will not be so cocky." 

A time later, Cheetara was flung back into the little cell to sprawl roughly on the floor, the clink of chains from the leg irons waking the sleeping Snarf from his uneasy slumber. Cautiously, he turned his head from where he lay on the filthy mattress, and his eyes widened. "Cheetara?" 

Cheetara had not cried in front of the Mutants. She had been able to hold it in until now, but now she began to sob. On her knees, her elbows resting on the ground, her head hanging, she began to sob. 

"Snaaaarf..." Snarf tried to sit, but was unable, and he cursed in the Thunderian language, he cursed the Mutants and the miserable creep that had taken them there, and the fact he could not help his friend. That hurt him worst of all, His nurturing nature made it very hard for him to stand by while someone suffered. 

After a few minutes, Cheetara slowly got a hold of herself and stifled her sobs until her breathing had slowed, and her shaking began to abate. She tore off the gag. "I'm all right, Snarf," she whispered. She staggered to her feet, using the sink for support, and turned on the water. She began to cleanse herself. Her uniform, ripped almost to the point where wearing it would have been pointless, hung in tattered shreds. She bled where she should not bleed, and even the sexual assault was not reprieve from the promised thrashing; Graydon had carried out his first intention and beaten her, even after he had his way with her. 

Snarf closed his eyes again, too weak to answer, as Cheetara lay back down on the floor and lay down. Her boots were gone, taken when she'd been shackled, and now she felt the chill of the cell, even though it was hot outside. With a sigh, she curled up on the floor next to the mattress and closed her eyes to try to sleep. 

*** 

"Pumyra," Lynx-O said, finally shutting the Braille-written book and standing up. He put his hands in front of him as he slowly made his way to where she sat in a comfortable chair across the room, watching Snarfer look through his magazine written by a Snarf of the Valley of the Snarfs. 

She looked up. "What is it, Lynx-O?" 

"We must go back to see Cheetaan." 

"But Lynx-O, it's late, the library's about to close, and I am exhausted. Can it wait?" 

Lynx-O sighed. He too, was tired, and he thought that Cheetaan was tired as well, after the intense vision conjuring. "Yes...yes, I think that it can wait. You're right, we need to rest. But first thing in the morning, we must go back." 

Pumyra nodded as Snarfer replaced his magazine and they walked out, headed for the outskirts of town. 

The young puma was the first to wake the next morning, and although the sun was out, she did not wake the others. She sat and watched the sun rise, the brilliant red-orange sun that she had missed so much during her days on Third Earth. In the morning, and at dusk she would go outside, especially during the summer, and only watch the sun rise or set. It was then, in rare cases, but sometimes when it appeared huge, and was the deep orange, that she could imagine she was on Thundera. It was in these cases when it so resembled Thundera's sun, that she could imagine that it was. 

Lynx-O awoke a little while later and once again they trekked across town. All the traveling was tiring, but it was necessary. If they were to get back to their own space and time, it was necessary. 

Cheetaan smiled as his visitors once again knocked on his door. "Come in, my friends." 

"Cheetaan, we must ask your help once more," Lynx-O said as they sat down. 

"What can I do for you?" Cheetaan had been fatigued by the last day's visions, but a good night's rest had rejuvenated him. 

"Well, I have found something that might work, but I must ask you about Cheetara and Snarf, and this alignment of stars." Lynx-O paused to gather his thoughts, then asked: "I need to know: when is the next such event on Thundera, and when is the next such event on Plundaar?" 

Cheetaan frowned. "You mean from the time your friend has been thrust into?" 

"Yes. Are you able to tell these things?" 

Cheetaan grinned. "When asked of specifics, such a question is easier than what you asked of me yesterday." Once again he concentrated, and in the low voice that was how he spoke when in a trance, he said, "On Plundaar...four days from where your friend is. The effects of this alignment are felt for a few days from the actual event, but when the alignment is exact, it is then that the potential for time alteration is strongest, and when the barrier between dimensions is thinnest. The date there would be...they no longer use our dating system." Cheetaan was silent for a moment, then said, "_gidsshd frekk._ This is the Plundaarian phrase for the date when this will happen." Once again the silence, then Cheetaan's serene voice saying, "Here on Thundera, the next occurrence of this alignment will be on 23, Day fourtee--" Suddenly, Cheetaan gasped, then cried out as if in pain, clutching his head. 

Lynx-O frowned concernedly and rushed forward to help the cheetah, banging his shin on the low table as he did so. Pumyra also came forward to catch him as he had stated to fall, but Cheetaan collapsed on the plush chair, still holding his head. 

"Cheetaan?" Lynx-O asked, edging forward to clasp the man's shoulder. He usually would not interrupt a trance of this kind. but he was concerned that Cheetaan had hurt himself. All three travelers were quite aware of what had happened on 23, Day fourteen. "Are you all right?" 

Finally, the young man lifted his head from his shaking hands. "By all the gods," he said in a horrified little voice. "By the gods...is it true?" 

Pumyra started to answer, but Lynx-O gently touched her arm and asked instead, "What did you see, Cheetaan?" If they were mistaken, he did not want the young cheetah to know of Thundera's destruction. If he did, that would disrupt things even farther if he decided to act on it. 

Cheetaan turned his horror stricken face to look up at the lynx while Pumyra sat back down, Snarfer only watched the exchange with interest. "Thundera..." Cheetaan whispered. "Did it really...was it really destroyed? Our whole planet?" 

Lynx-O bowed his head sadly and sat back down. "Yes, Cheetaan," he said in a low tone. "Yes. It was." He sighed. "A handful of us made it to this place I told you about, Third Earth; we do not know if any others of our countrymen made it." He remembered that last day, when they all were desperately running for their escorts out, how he, Pumyra, and Bengali had seen the transport they were to be on topple and perish, taking its passengers with it, right before he himself had been blinded... 

Cheetaan said nothing for a long time, as they sat in silence for a minute, a silence that was one of mourning, mourning for an event that had not yet even happened. Then Lynx-O spoke. "Cheetaan," he began. 

The cheetah spoke up. "No, Lynx-O. I will not tell anyone." It hurt him very much to say this, but he understood perhaps more than Lynx-O did, the possibilities of devastation such a major alteration of the time line could cause. "I cannot." 

Lynx-O nodded. "I am sorry, I am sorry you had to know." 

Cheetaan managed a shaky smile. "It's all right, Lynx-O. I only hope that at least you can save some people with the information I have given you." 

"Thank you, my friend. I will never forget your kindness to us." Lynx-O stood and shook the man's hand warmly. "Thank you." 

"Good luck, Lynx-O." The wish of luck was sincere. 

The three travelers left then, leaving Cheetaan to think, and think. He could never tell anyone, and he hoped that it would not change his life too much Perhaps his parents and he would be able to escape. Maybe he would be one of the lost, drifting in stasis capsules or landed on a planet to be discovered by someone who would know where his countrymen were... 

"Oh, snarf snarfer," Snarfer muttered. "That wasn't good at all, not at all." 

"No," Lynx-O said somberly. "It was not. It cannot be prevented, as Cheetaan understood; I did not want to inflict the sorrow of knowing on him. But there is nothing now to be done. I have an idea on how we can fix our current dilemma, however." 

At this, Pumyra turned on him, the tears in her eyes being no clue to the blind lynx that she was crying, but her projected sorrow and her voice told him that she was. "How can you say that?" she demanded, wiping he eyes. "How can you just dismiss the deaths of thousands of our people?!" 

Lynx-O winced and moved forward. "Shhh!" he warned. "We will talk, but we will do it in private!" He rarely spoke spoke sharply, but enough hurt had been caused by too much knowledge. 

A little surprised by Lynx-O's outburst, Pumyra waited until they were away from prying ears, then she resumed. "How can you just...walk away from this to fix our own petty problems?!" 

Lynx-O understood what Pumyra was saying, and how she felt. But she did not understand, not at all. She was a healer, not a scientist. "Pumyra, listen to me. Listen. When you start playing with the time stream, it's as if you were to take a Thundranium pistol and put it to your head and fire. The effects may wear off after a while, but on the other hand it may kill you. Yes, the destruction of Thundera was a horrible tragedy, and I lost many friends to it, but it was meant to be-" 

"Don't you DARE say that to me!" Pumyra shrieked, and slapped Lynx-O across the face, eliciting a surprised cry from the older man. "Don't you _dare_ say to me that our people should die only because it was _meant_ to be!" 

"Now hold on, Pumyra!" Lynx-O was a little angered. He did understand, but still, it hurt him to hear her say those words. "You did not let me finish. Thundera was destroyed in the original time line. What happens if we prevent that?" 

Breathing hard, on the edge of losing control completely, Pumyra growled in a shaky voice, "Then thousands of our people live." 

Lynx-O nodded, again under self control, although inside he stung. Her words had stung more than her hand. "Yes. We never go to Third Earth, and perhaps Mumm-Ra decides to eliminate the inhabitants, or even if he does not, he keeps them under his cruel reign. And then we do not become ThunderCats." He held up a hand to silence her outburst. "And we do not go to Third Earth. If we do not, aside from any ways the denizens there might suffer, if we never go to Third Earth, then we never meet Mumm-Ra, who has brought us here in the first place. If we don't meet him, he can't take us here, and we cannot prevent Thundera's destruction. What happens then? We have two things existing at the same time. Does everyone involved simply get erased from existence?" Pumyra was silent, and Lynx-O held his arms out to her. "We just do not know what would happen, Pumyra. As hard as it is to understand...even harder to accept...it could cause more ill than good." 

Finally breaking down, Pumyra started sobbing, and collapsed into Lynx-O's arms, turning her face to his shoulder like a frightened cub. "It's too confusing, Lynx-O!" 

The older cat held her while Snarfer looked uncomfortably at the ground. "I know, Pumyra. But it must be." He sighed. "I have an idea, and hopefully we will soon be able to put it behind us. Once again." 

Part 13 

Part 15 

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	15. Chapter 15

15 

It was late afternoon on New Thundera, and though Pumyra had calmed down, she walked with her head down, exuding an air of sorrow that even Snarfer could feel as much as see. Lynx-O felt for her, but there was work to be done. "All right," he said. He had given her this time to sort things out, and held off from outlining his plan until now. "I have read in the books in the library, that an explosion will sometimes alter the dimensional barrier. I have read that in rare cases it will even open a permanent portal through time, or one that is open for much of the time in the same place. There is a place on Third Earth that has been there since its first cycle called the Water-grave. On First Earth, it was called the Bermuda Triangle; it's over one of the seas. On Thundera there is the Forlantrin on the other side of Felis. They were both caused by major explosions." 

Snarfer caught up with the pair and rose on his tail. "Ooo, and Thundera...it was destroyed on the date of one of those alignments, right?" 

Lynx-O nodded. "Yes, it was. But that was not enough to alter the time stream...or if it was, it was in a way we never saw. But..." And here Lynx-O thought. "If Cheetara could somehow create her own explosion...the next alignment on Plundaar takes place within four days of where she is at the moment. If she could somehow cause her own explosion on that day or soon thereafter...perhaps that added to Thundera's explosion on another alignment, would be enough. Mumm-Ra's spell was based on this event, I can only hope that this might reverse this effect. There is theory in many of the physics books I read." 

"But..." Pumyra said, "...wouldn't that risk _causing_ this kind of effect rather than fixing this one?" 

Lynx-O shook his head., "There is of course that risk, but I am thinking that since Mumm-Ra's spell is based on this occurrence, that his spell is weaker than the time barrier, and therefore would be affected first." He paused for a moment. "It's the only way, Pumyra." 

She nodded. "Yes. I know...what will happen then? Will we all be transported back to Third Earth as we are? Or will the whole thing just never have happened? And if that's the case, will we remember what happened?" 

"I don't know, Pumyra." Lynx-O's face was grim. "I just don't know enough about this kind of thing." 

"How do we tell Cheetara?" 

"This I have thought of. We must go to Plundaar." 

*** 

The next two days passed slowly on Plundaar for the Thunderian captives. Snarf had slowly started to recover, although he was in enough pain to make him quite miserable. Cheetara had recovered enough to pace her cell after rearranging the tatters of her uniform to at least provide some cover. They had been fed more or less enough of a grayish hot mush, and a couple of times given a bitter tasting green vegetable that looked like crunchy sticks. They ate it, however, as they were pretty hungry, and it was better than nothing. 

Towards the middle of the second day, The two captives received a visitor; not Graydon, as he had brought the meals, eliciting a hateful glare from Cheetara, and leering back, but a pair of Mutant guards and an extremely small-statured vulture. 

"What the hell do you want?" Cheetara growled. 

The vulture ignored her, although the simian guard growled back at her to shut up. "Get the Snarf in my lab," the vulture said. "And Jackala wants the cheetah in the work yard." 

"You got it, doc," said the large Reptilian, large at least for the smaller race the Mutants had become. Deciding to take care of the bigger threat first, they lunged for Cheetara, who cursed and dodged them. Even with her ankles chained, she was fast enough this time to evade them, and they both fell to the floor on top of each other. Apparently the Mutants were still incompetent, even now, Cheetara thought to herself. 

The vulture, thinking quickly. shut the cell door, then retreated to hide behind the two angry guards as they stood. "You can't get out, bitch, so give up, hoo hoo!" the simian growled. 

"Never! A ThunderCat never surrenders!" 

The guards both laughed. "A ThunderCat is scum!" And they lunged again. They managed to get her under control and pinned to the wall while the vulture (at a distance) said to her, "I would cooperate with us if I were you. I will have this peculiar Snarf with me the entire time. If you wish to see him again alive, you will stop struggling." 

With a low growl of frustration, Cheetara stopped fighting the guards. 

"Good kitty," the simian grinned at her and stroked her mane as if she were a house cat. She snapped at him with her teeth, as they were pinning her arms, and he drew back just in time to avoid losing a finger. He smacked her. "Try that again, and I'll bash your head in, cheetah." 

Cheetara did not answer, but neither did she fight as they dragged her out of the cell and outside into a large work yard. Part of it looked as if there was work set up only to give the prisoners work to do, but she also saw treadmills for generating power, and what might have been some kind of mine, not to mention a large, smelly bin of garbage that some Mutant prisoners were dumping trash cans into. She sighed as she was led to the treadmills and ordered to run. She thought about refusing, but also thought about Snarf, and saw that some of the guards carried billy clubs, and did not hesitate to use them on anyone who slacked. With a sigh, she stepped up and began to run, hindered by the damnable leg irons. 

Inside, the vulture patiently waited for the guards to return, and only one was needed to haul the Snarf up by his tail, making him yelp in pain. He would live, but he still was hurt. "Put me down!" he hollered, even though it pained his sides to do so. 

That was a mistake he did not repeat, as the simian shook him hard, making him cry out again, and said, "Shut up, furball, or you'll get worse!" 

Snarf shut up. 

He was taken to an almost blindingly white, large laboratory, and strapped onto a large table. The vulture, ignoring the Snarf's protests completely, set about doing tests, making sure at first that he was truly of the Snarf race. Blood tests, skin and fur samples, and a full medical examination were taken and tested out. "Well well. You are a Snarf all right." Just then, another Mutant came in and spoke briefly to him, then left. The vulture laughed. "Amazing. Time travel. That seemed to be the results of your friend's brain scan. I have always wanted to see how a Snarf worked, but unfortunately I have orders to keep you alive for now, so I will have to restrict my testing." 

"Ohhh, Snaaaarf," he moaned, and closed his eyes. 

Part 14 

Part 16 

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	16. Chapter 16

16 

"I can not believe how completely frustrating this is." Tygra sighed and sank into a chair in the council room. 

"I know, Tygra. I know." Lion-O himself had a large headache. "It's been four days now; I am worried sick. Now I know how Snarf feels most of the time." 

"What do we do?" Wilykit asked worriedly. "I mean we know what the problem is, and we think we found all the portals..." 

"...but we had to get rid of them! How are we supposed to find out how they work?" her brother finished. The remaining ThunderCats had found what they hoped was all of the portals to the other dimensions, but had not wanted to take the chance that either by accident, or by Mutant interference, that some innocent being would get trapped in another world. 

"It would have done us little good, Wilykat," Panthro said. "Those were only the results of this...whatever the hell caused this blasted phenomenon. To find out how they work, we would have to go to the source; to whatever is causing this." 

Tygra nodded. "Yes. And if what we think caused it is correct, that means one thing." 

"Mumm-Ra!" the twins cried together, as if spitting out a curse. 

"Yes, Mumm-Ra. Going to his pyramid is a dangerous business." Lion-O shook his head. "And I had hoped to figure this out without actually going there. But as the Sword of Omens shows me nothing, I'm afraid we have little choice." 

Panthro stood. "Well I'm ready." 

"Us too!" Wilykit said, as she and her brother also stood. 

Tygra joined his fellow ThunderCats and nodded grimly, drawing his bolo whip. "All right, let's get this over with." 

"ThunderCats, ho!" Lion-O cried as he ran for the hangar. Echoing the battle cry, the others followed. 

*** 

It had been hell finding a ship going to Plundaar, and even more hell sneaking aboard it, but once again, Lynx-O, Pumyra and Snarfer were crammed into the cargo bay of a transport. And this one was even less roomy. "When I thought of being a ThunderCat, I never thought it would entail this," Pumyra grumbled, as she removed Snarfer's elbow from her eye. 

"It is not all glory and honorable battles, Pumyra," Lynx-O said gently. "This may be the lowest we have had to go," He was thinking of the necessity of leaving Thundera to its death once more, killing off more than half of their people. ",but hopefully we will be able to put it behind us soon." 

"Wh-what if this doesn't work out and something really horrible happens?" Snarfer asked with his usual lack of optimism. 

Lynx-O said grimly, "Then Lion-O and the other will be on their own on Third Earth." And hopefully the time stream will not be completely messed up, he added silently. Blast Mumm-Ra, anyway! 

"Ohhh, snaaerfer, snaaaarfer," the young snarf wailed softly. 

It took the little group only a few hours to get where they were going, and Lynx-O outlined his plan on the way in hushed tones. "I have no idea how far into Plundaar's future Cheetara is," Lynx-O said, "but if we can find the right person here in this time, we may yet be able to hope she will get our message." 

"But, but who?" Snarfer asked. 

"Well, I do know a little of Cheetara's past, Snarfer, there was a young man from Plundaar she had seen for a short period. He was put to death for courting a Thunderian, but if we could find his family..." 

"Ohhh, good idea, snarfer, snarfer. Goood idea." 

"Do you have any idea who they were, Lynx-O, or where they would be?" 

"I have no idea, Pumyra. But we must find out." 

"What...what if it takes more than two days now to find it?" Snarfer asked. "Oh, no, how will we get it to her in time?" 

"Easy, Snarfer. Remember we are dealing with time here, and Cheetara is far into the future. It would not matter if it took us a month here. If we tell our contact the correct date in the future to give it to her, it doesn't matter how long it takes now. Our problem is staying alive and unharmed." 

"So we have to find someone who will be able not only to pass a message down the generations to whenever Cheetara is now, and from what Cheetaan told us it's more than a dozen generations in the future, but we also have to make sure they can find a trustworthy Mutant in that time that can get into a heavily guarded Mutant prison and give a written message to a Thunderian captive?" Pumyra shook her head. "That's going to take a lot of luck." 

"You're right. But luck is all we have now," Lynx-O said. "Blind luck, if you will." The elder lynx chuckled at the small pun, and although Pumyra whapped him playfully on the arm and tried to give him a dirty look, she giggled. It was a nervous giggle, but nevertheless it was nice to hear. "Have faith, Pumyra. I have no idea if this will work, but if we do not have faith, or give up hope, then we know for _sure_ that it will fail." 

Pumyra only nodded. 

*** 

"I'll kill them," Caleb growled. "I'll kill every one of those militant, sadistic bastards." It was the anniversary of his son's death. It had been two years now, but the wound still stung on this day, stung badly. 

"Now...now Caleb, you can't think like that. The Plundaarian military is strong, very strong. You wouldn't get very far before they put you to death too." She patted her large belly. "And we have another one coming that will need his or her father." 

"I don't care!" The elder wolf Mutant spun around to glare angrily at his mate. His anger was not at her, but he could not keep the hatred from his face or his voice, even as he looked upon his beloved wife. "They killed our son for doing no more than falling in love!" 

"She was a Thunderian, Caleb. She's lucky they let her live." 

Caleb growled. "I am ashamed to be a Plundaarian, Lupinee. Ashamed. There are so few that know honor, and that respect life." The rage suddenly gone, Caleb sank tiredly into a chair. "He was my only son, Lupinee, my only son. He went to war with the idea he could maybe bring honor to our family, our race even, and they killed him." 

No longer able to hold her tears back, Lupinee burst into tears and squeezed into the large plush chair next to her mate and cried into his tunic. 

Caleb sighed and stroked her fur. "I know, Lupinee. I know." They had been through this the previous years, and his mate was right. He had this child to think about. And he hoped that its presence, once born, would fill the hole in his heart left by his first born. 

*** 

"Well that was easy," Pumyra said. She held a hard copy of an address not far from the military base. 

Lynx-O chuckled. "The Mutants' military might be powerful, Pumyra, but they are not very smart at times. A Thunderian with a little knowledge of technology should have no problems getting into the system, as we have demonstrated. They are far behind most races in that aspect." 

Pumyra snorted. "You can say that again." She looked up "Well, here it is." 

"Yes," Lynx-O said." They had hidden themselves carefully on the trip here, and now they would be taking a chance. But from what Cheetara had told Lynx-O, her lover's family had known honor. "Let's talk." 

As Caleb comforted his wife, there was a knock on the door. "Go away!" he called. Now was not the time for a visitor. 

"We must talk to you, please!" An elderly voice called back. 

Caleb frowned, his ears twitching. That sounded like a Thunderian voice! Gently setting his mate aside, he stood and opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw who was at his door, and he drew his laser pistol. Lupinee in the background fearfully stepped back, and Lynx-O and Pumyra took defensive stances as Snarfer hid behind them. 

The wolf growled. "What do you want here, Thunderian?" he demanded. 

Though Lynx-O was ready to fight if he had to, he made no move. "Please, we must talk to you. We mean no harm." Here he would have to take a large risk, and moving slowly, removed his light shield, extending is slowly toward the Mutant. He advised Pumyra to hand over her weapon as well. 

Caleb looked at the shield suspiciously, then snatched it. Lynx-O stood tensed, to see whether the risk had been a mistake or not. But when he heard him take Pumyra's weapon as well, setting their weapons on a nearby desk, and then setting his _own_ weapon there as well, he knew it had been the right thing to do. 

The wolf Mutant opened the door. "Come in," he said curtly. "What do you want here?" 

After the door had been closed to prying eyes, Lynx-O said, "Thank you. Do you know a Thunderian named Cheetara?" 

Both Caleb and his mate gasped. "Y-yes..." Caleb said, clearly shaken. "Yes, my...my son..." 

Lynx-O nodded. "Yes. Cheetara and your son had fallen in love, and your son was killed for it." Lynx-O bowed his head. "I am sorry that it happened." 

Caleb looked at his visitors with a new expression. "Thank you," he said, not knowing how else to respond. He was not used to hearing sympathy for a Mutant death from a Thunderian. "Who are you?" 

"My name is Lynx-O." After he had told the wolves who they were, Lynx-O went through the whole story, leaving nothing out. He had to trust these people, and so could do no less than give them the entire story. 

"You know..." Caleb said. "Had any Mutant come up to me with this story, I would have laughed in his face and booted him out the door. Our races are deadly enemies, and I'm amazed that I am more inclined to believe your story that I would one of my own race." 

"Then you'll help us?" Pumyra said with a tone of urgency. 

Caleb nodded. "Those bastards killed my son. I have another child on the way, perhaps by doing this I can get my vengeance without risking my child growling up without a father." 

Lynx-O nodded sympathetically as he handed a parchment with a carefully worded explanation of everything to the wolf, one that would tell Cheetara exactly what had to be done. There had been some concern over whether she would take it seriously, but with the cheetah's sixth sense, she would know. They hoped. "I wish you luck...my friend." He extended his hand. 

After a minute, Caleb took it. "Thank you." Then he said, "You better get off of Plundaar." He thought a minute. "There should be a transport leaving in an hour and a half at the docking bay a couple of miles away. You should be able to get on it with not too much trouble." He returned their weapons. 

"Again I thank you. We will take our leave now, and once more extend our sympathy." Lynx-O nodded to the wolf couple as he and his companions left the house, and skulked in the direction he had said this transport was. 

"Wow..." Snarfer said. "Maybe all Mutants aren't so bad..." 

"No," Lynx-O said. "They are not, Snarfer. There are many Plundaarians that know honor. Unfortunately the leaders of the planet are corrupt, and keep their people subdued. Come, we must get back to Thundera before out luck here runs out." 

*** 

It had not run out yet as they made their way to the docking facility that Pumyra and Snarfer could now see in the distance...until they tried to sneak into the ship. 

BREET! BREET! BREET! Thunderian life forms detected! Thunderian life forms detected! 

"SNARFER!" The young Snarf cried in surprise. "Oh no, the ship has automatic sensors!!!" 

"Stay calm Snarfer!" Pumyra said. "Get inside!" She nearly threw the young Snarf into the ship and closed its doors to the onslaught of mutants coming their way from outside. 

"Pumyra, how big a ship is this?" 

"About as big as the flagship the ThunderCats used to get off of Thundera!" 

"All right, prepare for a fight. I say ten to fifteen for a crew!" Pumyra leading the way, as her sight would be of more use in this situation, they ran down a corridor towards what they hoped would be the control Room. 

"Lynx-O!" Snarfer wailed. "Behind us!" He whipped around with his muscular tail, tripping one of the three Reptilians that was following them, drawing their weapons. 

Pumyra whirled around. "No lasers, they have two battle axes and a sword, Lynx-O!" 

Lynx-O was already taking out his shield. Snapping it open, he allowed the light from the ship to charge it, and sent a blast at the sword-wielder, who was bringing his blade up to skewer the older man. The lizard cried out and sprawled backwards. 

Pumyra had taken one out with her sling, and the one Snarfer had tripped got up and took a swipe at the little guy, she nailed him, too. "Run!" The Mutants would not be out long. If they could only lock themselves in the control room! 

As they ran, Lynx-O stumbling a little over anything that might be in the hallways, they came to a large door. None of them could read Plundaarian, but Snarfer took a look at the primitive controls and fiddled with them. With flying sparks, the door opened. 

"Uh-oh..." Pumyra said. They had found the bridge all right, but there were six Mutants inside, and all turned in surprise, while one of them, a young looking one that might have been only a trainee, called the ship's crew to the control room. Within seconds the Thunderian trio found themselves surrounded by ten Mutants. Well Lynx-O had been right, Pumyra thought. There were thirteen of them including the ones they had already fought. 

The commander of the ship growled, and barked a command in his language. At this signal, the Mutants attacked! 

Fight or surrender, that was the question here, and Lynx-O had to make a quick decision. If they were caught, they would be interrogated. Lynx-O had a healthy respect for the Plundaarian interrogation techniques; one of them would likely give away their mission, and it could_ not_ be endangered. "We fight!" he cried, and the little band of time-fugitives began a desperate battle. 

Part 15 

Part 17 

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	17. Chapter 17

17 

Wolfran shook his head. This was pretty ridiculous, and he felt like a fool. There was rebellion rising up on Plundaar, rebellion against the all powerful leaders of the place. His job in this miserable prison had not been easy to get, and he was supposed to endanger that for a family legend? 

The wolf Mutant walked slowly across the work yard. It was already two days late, but he hadn't gotten the opportunity, and the little leeway was all right, so he had been told. 

The young man took a deep breath. Well there she was, just as the records had said. The fact that she was there eased his doubts a little bit. 

Still, he seriously considered ditching the whole thing, but then he thought of his father, and even his grandfather as long as he knew him. He knew the story of the cheetah woman and one of his ancestors. It was the first and last time any of his clan had tired to court Thunderian, male or female. He remembered how adamant his grandfather had been that this deed must happen, if only to get some long sought-after vengeance, and to help that woman. But again he had his doubts. That woman was long dead, she had to be, and he didn't believe the theories of time travel. No race he ever knew of had the technology to do it. 

But he loved his grandfather dearly, and knew he believed strongly that this was not simply legend. His father had been skeptical, he knew that, but urged him just the same. His father was still alive,although so old that he was on death's doorway. So it was up to him. 

And still, here was a cheetah woman, just as the legend had said. 

As he walked through the jail in the small Plundaarian town, he began to feel nervous. Even if it were not true, this story and task had been passed down for generations, and now it was here. He was the one. He would carry out a generations-old obligation, a legend! He felt a moment of self-doubt, hoping that he wouldn't just screw everything up. 

It had taken two days to both find out if there was a cheetah there with a Snarf companion, and there had been. This Wolfran had been shocked to find. He also to find where she was--then he had to get to her. 

He had gotten up a plan, and it would require some play acting he did not care to do, but it had to be done. He hoped she would understand. 

"What do you want here, Wolfran?" the Reptilian asked of the wolf as he approached the work yard. It was late in the day that Cheetara had been put to work. She was tiring, but a few whacks with a skillfully wielded billy club had convinced her each time that she could run a little more. 

"I have gained permission to see our Thunderian prisoner." He manufactured a convincing leer. "If you known what I mean." He gave over the slip of paper that stated this. It was real, he had gotten the permission from the head guard. 

The lizard laughed. "She has to finish her time today, but afterwards she's all yours." 

Wolfran nodded. "I'm gonna go see her for a minute. Let her know who her master'll be tonight." Another leer. The lizard nodded and pointed her out. 

Cheetara was panting when a wolf Mutant walked up in front of her, standing on the open front of the treadmill, just beyond the moving parts, between the hand rails. She glared at him. Had Wolfran looked more like her long ago love, she would have wondered, but at this point she was in no condition to notice the slight similarities from generations back. "What do you want?" she demanded. 

Trying not to feel too ashamed, he grabbed her as she walked, and held her almost viscously when she struggled. He spoke in a low voice, low enough for only her to hear. "Please forgive me, and don't let on at all. Your safety depends on this." Leering as if he were saying something crude to her, he took the piece of sturdy paper an elderly lynx had given to a wolf named Caleb so many years ago, and stuffed it down the remains of Cheetara's uniform, what she had managed to cover her top with. To the others it looked like a grope. 

Cheetara squawked indignantly, but was giving the wolf an intense look. 

"Trust me," Wolfran said. "You really have no other choice." Then he left, leaving the guards present to laugh at the encounter. Cheetara herself wondered. 

Late that evening, after a completely exhausting day, Cheetara guzzled water from the dirty sink and collapsed on the stained mattress in her cell. Wondering if they intended to feed her or not, she first made sure no prying eyes watched her, then pulled out the slip of paper. 

It was actually parchment, she realized, and when she opened it up and looked to the bottom for a signature, her eyes widened. "No, that's impossible!' she whispered. She recognized the writing as Pumyra's, and a shaky version of Lynx-O's, written from memory of how the pen went rather than sight. Even Snarfer had signed the parchment. "What in the name of Thundera,"she murmured. Her aches, pains, and fatigue were relegated to a far corner of her mind as she read what was there, her eyes growing wider and wider as she did. She began to feel a thread of hope. "Maybe we can get out of here and fix this mess..." 

But then that thread of hope drained away as she realized just hard this was going to be. 

She had to destroy the note. She did not want to risk someone finding it before the next couple of days were up...so she flushed it. The sewage all ran to the river anyway, by the time anyone found it, if they did, it would be too late. "How?" 

"Snaaaarf!" wailed a voice, and Cheetara turned in time to see a red ball of fur flying towards her. She managed to catch Snarf before he landed painfully on the concrete, and glared at the guard that had thrown him. Graydon. 

The lizard leered. "Have fun with Wolfran, pet?" 

"Screw you!" Cheetara growled. 

The lizard laughed unpleasantly. "Oh my, so soon? I might just take you up on that offer, my little cheetah. But not tonight, I have work to do." As Cheetara glared after the bastard, she turned to Snarf. "Are you all right? What did they do to you?" 

Snarf groaned and lay down carefully. "I'm okay, just don't feel so well." The buzzard had done all manner of standard tests this first day. Nothing devastating, but tiring and made Snarf a hell of a lot sorer than he had been before. "Tomorrow he wants to test some drugs on me, snarf snarf," Snarf whined, and folded his ears down. "A-and he was bragging about some kind of super-weapon that he wants to use on Thundera...I-I mean _New_ Thundera!" Snarf wailed. "I mean I know it's in the future, and there's no one there I'd know, but those are our people! They already wiped out my race!" 

Cheetara sighed and sat next to him, laying a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I know...I know. Snarf, listen to me, listen." In hushed tones, she told him of the note and of what they had to try to do. "Maybe if we can pull this off, we'll be out of this horrible place." Suddenly she gasped. "Snarf! This...this weapon...where is it ?" 

"The buzzard's? I-It's in the prison somewhere. All his lab stuff is here." 

"Snarf. Tomorrow he's bringing you in in the morning, right?" Snarf nodded. "Convince him to bring me in there with you. Use some kind of sly technique that would make him think it a good idea. Can you do that?" 

Understanding dawned in Snarf's eyes. "I got ya. Yes I think I can manage it, Cheetara...but...we're not gonna use it on Thundera, are we?" 

"No! Of course not. There are many uninhabited planets in this system. If we choose one far enough away, hopefully it won't affect anyone else. And if this works like Lynx-O believes it might, none of this would have happened." 

Snarf nodded and slumped back. "I sure hope this is over soon." 

"So do I, Snarf. So do I." With that, she rolled over to sleep. 

*** 

"Lynx-O, look behind you! Behind you! I mean not look, but watch out! I mean--" 

Long before Snarfer finished his well meaning but bumbled attempt at warning, Lynx-O spun and crouched, this instinctive move paying off, as he avoided having his head smashed in by a jackal's club. He aimed the light shield at his noisy, clumsy form. The jackal went down with a cry, his hand clutching at his nether regions. 

"Ooooo," Snarfer said, wincing. Only three of the Mutants were down, and one of those was getting back up. Although the two ThunderCats were holding up all right, they were tiring. Snarfer was no fighter, but he'd have to get into it soon, it looked like. He was good with weapons, at least in the Tower of Omens. 

The young Snarf jumped down from his hiding place and leapt on one of the fallen Mutants, grabbing his stun pistol. He pulled the trigger and was happy to see one of the fighting Mutants go down. 

"Ahhh!" There was a cry of pain from Pumyra as she sprawled on the floor, a large seared area on her side. She growled and kicked into the gut of the one responsible. 

Lynx-O also yelped as he was struck a glancing blow on the head, but the tide was slowly turning. As soon as Snarfer joined the fray, they had a chance. 

Lynx-O couched, half sensing, half hearing an attack from two sides at once. He leapt and let them collide with one another, then took them out while they still recovered. He had bruised himself a few times, striking something in the unfamiliar room, but he was holding up all right. 

Pumyra took out three at once with her sling, and Snarfer zapped them all with the stunner to make sure they stayed out. 

Soon, all ten Mutants, plus the ones outside, were out for the count. A little battered and a lot tired, the three Thunderians, at Lynx-O suggestion, put them in the airlock and left the outside door open. They would not kill them, but when they took off, they would make sure they fell out. 

Snarfer was able to figure out the controls to the Plundaarian ship, and took the helm, tilting the ship first to dump their unwanted Mutant cargo, then blasting off. Those outside had fired on them, even tried to tractor them in, but it was a powerful ship, and easy enough to man in an emergency; they had little trouble once the inside crew was defeated. 

"What now?" Snarfer asked. 

Lynx-O tiredly sat down. "Full speed ahead to Thundera." 

Part 16 

Part 18 

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	18. Chapter 18

18 

"Mumm-Ra!" Lion-O's voice rang out in the dead air around the Black Pyramid. The ThunderCats did not usually go there looking for a fight, but this time their friends' lives were at stake. "Mumm-Ra!" The young lord had the Sword of Omens drawn, and was ready for battle. 

"We know you're in there, you miserable bag of bones!" Panthro added. He was not just _ready_ for a fight, he was _lusting_ for a fight. He was mad as hell, and he wasn't going to take it anymore. He didn't like being fooled with, and when people started messing with his countrymen, it angered the panther to no end. 

Just as the group of ThunderCats thought that either the mummy was not there, or was simply ignoring them, there came an unpleasant chuckle from inside the oppressing pyramid. "So, you dare come here, to my abode, ThunderCats?" All of them jumped as a door opened in one side of the pyramid. "Come in if you dare, 'honorable' felines." This was spoken with a heavy scorn, and a mockery that made the little group of ThunderCats bristle with anger, none more than Panthro. He stalked in. 

"Panthro! Wait for us!" Lion-O ran to catch up, and Tygra and the Thunderkittens ran in behind the pair. There was a scraping sound and a resounding thud as the doorway once again shut and was sealed. "All right, ThunderCats, be on your guard." Lion-O crept forward, Sword of Omens held out in front of him, ready to fight. 

As they made their way through the sterile, almost complete darkness, towards a glow up ahead that could only mean the ancient being's main chamber, the ThunderCats heard words echoing though the corridors that they dreaded: 

"Ancient Spirits of Evil..." 

"He's transforming!" Wilykat cried. 

"...transform this decayed form..." 

"He's ready for a fight!" Wilykit said, and she ran with her brother to get there perhaps before the mummy was finished. They could hear the adults close behind them. 

"...to Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living!!" the voice shrieked, completing the incantation. The group of uninvited guests burst in on the chamber where Mumm-Ra's sarcophagus and cauldron sat in time to witness the transformation as Mumm-Ra himself grew in stature, his emaciated form becoming that of a well-muscled warrior. The felines' manes whipped around wildly from the wind of the magic whose force had made this transformation possible, and Mumm-Ra turned to face them, a half grin, half sneer on his face. "So, you dare face Mumm-Ra, the Ever-Living in his own abode, lion cub?" 

"What did you do with them, you decayed bundle of Band-Aids?!" Panthro demanded, stepping forward. The Thunderkittens snickered. 

Mumm-Ra laughed at them, hovering a few feet off the ground for intimidation. "Would you be referring to your little pussy comrades, Panthro?" 

Panthro growled, spinning the tip off of his nun-chuck and firing a blast at him. "Where are they?" 

The ancient mummy simply raised a hand and blocked the energy that had spewed from Panthro's weapon and growled, "They are in another time, other worlds, and even if I wanted to, Thunderpest, I couldn't bring them back." He grinned nastily. "This was a one way spell." With that, he raised his hands and sent his own energy coursing towards the panther, knocking his asprawl several feet away with a cry of surprise and anger. He got back up angrily. 

"Hey!" Wilykit cried, as she and her brother rushed forward. 

"You big bully!" her brother added. They ran at him, hurling capsules of smoke, and attempting to take the mummy down in the confusion that they knew their way through well. The mummy send another burst of lightning through his fingertips, channeling his energy this time into striking the young twins. 

As they also were knocked across the room with singed fur, Lion-O growled. "Okay, that's enough, Mumm-Ra! We want to know where the others are and how to get them back. Tell us now and we will leave peacefully!" 

Tygra had gone over to the twins and asked if they were okay. They were shaken, but unharmed, though they'd be feeling the effects of this fight in the morning. Mumm-Ra tittered. "You want to see where they are, young 'Lord of the ThunderCats'? Then come over here." He would _enjoy_ showing them where they were. 

The ancient being approached the cauldron and bid his visitors approach as well as a murky image began to show itself, clearing as it was conjured. It showed a scene in the prison of Plundaar that made Panthro cover the twins' eyes, and made Tygra and Lion-O clench their fists in fury. It showed a fight on the Mutant ships with Lynx-O and Snarfer and Pumyra before they won it. It showed Bengali, falling forever on a world with no land. "And as for bringing them back, there _is_ no way." He sneered at them. "This was a one way spell, whelp!" 

As the disturbing images faded from the cauldron, Lion-O growled and clutched his blade. "Then I guess we have nothing more to talk about! HOOOO!" The mighty Sword of Omens let loose an equally mighty lance of power at Mumm-Ra, and the mummy was thrown back, only to come forward again to lash out with the lightning. Tygra rendered himself invisible and lashed out with his whip at the mummy priest while Panthro attacked with his nunchucks, but Mumm-Ra had rested a great deal, and was completely recharged. He was strong. 

*** 

The return trip to Thundera did not take as long as it had taken to get to Plundaar, only because the ship they had stowed away on had not been in any hurry. This time, had Mandora or any other CONTROL officers been out patrolling, they would have been slapped with a speeding ticket for sure. Snarfer, in particular, had a bit of a grudge against the woman. 

Luckily they did not run into any such being. 

They had had a bit of a problem as they approached Thundera, being in a Mutant ship, but they had finally proven themselves to be Thunderian, gotten their permission to orbit and land. It was a good thing, too. They were exhausted. They decided that they would land in an uninhabited part of Thundera and simply sleep in the ship where it was safe, which they did. Each fell asleep as soon as their heads hit the bunk of the dark, cramped Mutant ship. 

*** 

"Snaaarf, why can't you miserable Mutants leave me alone!?" Snarf wailed, as he was taken by the tail yet again for a session in the laboratory. This Mutant didn't bother shaking him to shut him up, he only ignored the red and yellow furball as he carried him to the lab and strapped him in. Snarf still hurt too much to make much of a fuss about it. 

"Good morning, my lab rat," the avian said with a grin. "How do you feel this morning?" 

"I;m not a rat, I;m a snarf! Leave me alone!" came the reply. 

"Now what good would that do? You would only rot in a cell if I did that." The vulture released the restrain keeping Snarf's upper body secured and pulled him to a sitting position. He handed the Snarf a bowl of soup and a glass of water. "Hurry up and eat, furball. You're no use to me if your diet doesn't keep your body in clinical condition. You see? Being my test subject can have its advantages. You'll be fed more than most of the prisoners here." He chuckled. Truth was, even with that perk, most of the prisoners would take almost anything to being a lab rat for the bird. 

Snarf glared at him, but did not pass up the bowl of soup. He was hungry, not to mention cold, and the soup was good and hot. He ate quickly, though with painful, stiff motions, and finally drained the glass of water. He sighed. "Then why don't you get one of your own kind in here, snarf, snarf? I'm too little to take much of your darned experimentation!" 

"Oh, but you aren't. You see in this time, my young friend, your kind has been exterminated. I want to find out how some of our common drugs and medicines, and toxins affect somone of your race, and after that perhaps if the time travel affected you in any way." 

Snarf's ears folded down, but still he glared at the vulture. "Well at least I wish you'd let Cheetara stay with me! You don't have to be so mean and separate us all the time." He carefully crossed his arms and scowled. "I mean you don;t know anyhting about Thunderians, either!" Then he widened his eyes, clamping a hand over his mouth, as if he had said something he didn;t mean to say. 

The vulture didn't say anything for a minute, but only thought. When Snarf finally looked up, wondering why he was so quiet for so long, the vulture grinned at him. "You know, that's a good idea! I have seen few of the Thunderian race either, and never got the opportunity to see how one ticks. What an excellent idea." He began to leave the room. 

"Wait!" Snarf cried, trying to hide the smug grin that threatened to surface. That's exactly how he had wanted him to react. "That's not what I meant!" 

The vulture didn't say anything, only slammed the door, leaving Snarf secured to the table by his legs. Snarf chuckled, then held his sides as the motion made them hurt. Well they had started it, could they finish? 

Part 17 

Part 19 

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	19. Chapter 19

19 

"Tygra, look out!" Lion-O called, unleashing yet another blast at the mummy priest. This one elicited a satisfying shriek of pain and anger as it struck. 

There was a low growl that would chill the stoutest of hearts, and even Panthro paused. "You are very courageous when fighting three on one, ThunderCats," Mumm-Ra growled. 

"Hey, five on one!' Wilykit protested. "We're here!" 

Mumm-Ra favored them with a smirk. "You hardly count as warriors, brats." Leaving the twins fuming in resentment at the slur, Mumm-Ra turned back to lay his unsettling, unnatural eyes on Lion-O. "Are you too much a coward to face me yourself, you puling cub?" 

Lion-O himself bristled, and was seriously considering taking him up on that offer. His grip tightened on the Sword of Omens. 

"Forget it, Mumm-Ra. The lives and the safety of our countrymen are at stake here. I don't believe all that bullcrap about not being able to bring them back!" Panthro jumped forward without warning, and launched himself at the undead mummy. Taken by surprise, Mumm-Ra was knocked to the floor of his pyramid, and he and the mighty panther began to grapple. 

Wilykat wanted to move in and help, but Wilykit tapped him on the shoulder. "No wait, Wilykat...let's go see if we can find the spell book Mumm-Ra used!" She spoke in a hushed whisper. 

"But what if he didn't use a spellbook?" 

Wilykit shrugged. "It's gotta be worth a shot." 

The boy nodded. "Okay. The others can keep that miserable mummy occupied while we look." The twins dashed off. 

As the battle escalated behind them, the twins crept down the dark, dust-dry corridors, kicking up skifts of the fine desert sand that always seeped in everywhere when you lived in the desert, no matter how tight you seal the place up. The unpleasant thought that it might not all even be sand, but that there might be the ancient dust of crumbles bones scattered about as well occurred to Wilykit, and she felt obligated to share this thought with her brother. 

"Oh thanks a lot, Wilykit! That's something I really don't want to think about walking down a dark passageway in Mumm-Ra's pyramid!" Wilykit laughed, clamping a hand over her mouth. After a minute, Wilykat laughed too, and slugged her playfully. She laughed again. It was nervousness and fear, and both knew it. That was how they dealt with their fear. 

"Okay, now which - man now I don't even know where we are!" 

Wilykit looked at him strangely. "There haven't been any turnoffs." 

"I know but I mean I don't even know where in the pyramid this is. I've never been this far before." The twins passed a row of what looked like ancient prison cells, sealed with ancient stone doors. "It's almost too dark in here for even us to see." 

"I'll get out some light." Wilykit took a light capsule from her belt and broke it partly open, shining a light on the situation. "Wilykat! Look!" 

"I see it!" At the and of the murky corridor was a lone door. "Let's go see what's in it!" 

"Yeah and there are some other hallways here too, but let's get the door first." The twins crept along, listening to the rapidly fading sounds of the battle that was now above the adventurous twins. "What was that?" 

"What was what?" Wilykat asked, not looking around. 

"That!" Wilykit heard it again, a very low sound, like something running silently, but wearing clothing that flapped in the wind. Then there was a low growl. 

"I don't hear anything, Wilykit." Wilykat snickered. "I think you're hearing things. You must be getting old." 

Wilykit frowned then laughed nervously. "Well you're my twin, then what does that make you?" 

Wilykat gave the same laugh and shrugged. "Well at least I'm not--" This time he did hear it, and shivered involuntarily. They edged closer together. "Boy it's spooky down here." 

"And cold. You did hear it didn't you?" 

"Yeah. Wilykit? Let's go back and wait for the others." 

Wilykit needed little more coaxing, and started to turn around. "Good idea." 

"GROWWF!!!" 

Both twins screamed at the sudden loud growl of anger directly behind them, and at the hot breath at their necks, and spun around. Both had their lariats drawn and capsules in hand. Before them hovered a large, gray, drooling bulldog, snarling at the young ThunderCats. "Ma-Mutt!" they exclaimed at the same time. 

"Jeez, he almost gave me a heart attack!" Wilykat said shakily. He had reason to fear and respect the dog, as he was a formidable adversary in his own right, but he was at least a _known_ adversary. When Wilykat heard that enraged growl, he had been ready to turn and see anything. The boy's heart was still pounding, and he breathed fast. "Get out of our way, Ma-Mutt!" he said. 

The canine only growled and leapt from mid-air at Wilykat's throat. With a yelp, he was knocked down, and able to knock the attacker off kilter enough to remain alive, but got a nasty set of tooth gouges on his arm from the trouble. He yelped sharply. 

"Okay, you miserable mutt! No one does that to my brother!" The fiercely protective Wilykit leapt forward, ready to throw the dog through the wall if she had to. 

*** 

On Thundera, when Lynx-O awakened from his much needed rest, he sensed one of their group was missing. He felt around on the bunk on either side of him, and his hand encountered the top of Snarfer's head. He awoke with a startled sound that indicated his mind was still stubbornly asleep, and his body had only awakened to chew the person responsible for waking it out so it could join his mind again. 

"I'm sorry, Snarfer, but is Pumyra gone?" Lynx-O asked with a frown. 

With a silent sigh, Snarfer's mind awoke, and at that moment, he wakened completely and looked around. "Yep, suuuure is, snarfer, snarfer. Maybe she went to find something to eat on the ship or went to the bathroom." 

Lynx-O nodded and frowned a little. "Perhaps." Normally he would have assumed the same thing, but there was a feeling in the air, a scarcely tangible feeling of doom, and it was not just because of Pumyra's disappearance either. This much he could intuit. "Let's go look for her, Snarfer." 

"Okay," the young Snarf said agreeably, and followed Lynx-O from the room. The elderly lynx moved slowly feeling his way along the wall. Every so often he would call Pumyra's name. 

After they had been through the whole ship, he sighed. "Well now I'm a bit concerned. I hope nothing has happened to her." Then he frowned. "Snarfer! What is the date today? Do you know?" 

Snarfer thought a minute then told him. "Yeah that's right, yessir!" 

Lynx-O's frown deepened. He realized now that he had chosen a very poor spot on Thundera to land in. "Come on Snarfer!" 

"Where are we going?" the puzzled youth asked him. 

"To the Chasm." 

*** 

Pumyra had never been to the Chasm, but has seen enough maps to know where it was. She had been too tired on their return to Thundera to notice, but Lynx-O had landed close enough for it to be less than an hour's walk in the rocky, desolate terrain. 

No settlements had ever been made here; the ground was hard and unreapable. No vegetation would grow, and building foundations would be far too difficult and costly to make here to make building anything worth it. And besides, no one would want to live in the unpleasant area. Vultures and snakes denned here, not to mention other various wildlife, the kind that thrived in arid conditions, and these species somehow flourished, were even happy here. Pumyra never could be, that was for sure. But she went there now. 

She had thought a lot in the hour or so it had taken her to get there, the wind increasing as she approached. It was a hot wind, one that made her want to shield her face and turn around and walk backwards if only to get a breath of cool air without it blowing in her face. But she didn't. She only thought. 

Perhaps what Lynx-O said was true, maybe there was the chance of causing greater harm, but any way that the young puma thought about it, the more she could not see how it could be. She couldn't see what could worse than killing off thousands of innocent people. She just couldn't. Lynx-O would be angry with her, he would be disappointed, feel betrayed maybe, and these she could put up with. She would not like it, and she would cry a long time, but she would put up with it for this. 

Finally, she was there, and finally seeing the source of the unpleasant wind. She didn't _like_ wind. She didn't like hot wind and she didn't like cold wind, and the cougar grimaced as she approached. 

She peered into the cavern, which was surrounded by rocks and sand, some of these former rising taller than she, even taller than Tygra, who was tallest. She peered in, fascinated, although the gales had become violent enough to turn her mane into a mass of tiny whipping tentacles that flew around wildly, stinging her face and generally getting in her way. "Sheesh!" Taking a piece of rawhide from her pocket, she tied it firmly back, which helped. 

The wind was coming from inside the vast cavern, where the superheated air met the cooler air outside. There was a river below, a river of raging molten stone, far, far below. Even at the distance up that she was, Pumyra still felt that if she looked down there long enough, she'd get a sunburn, right through the fur. Still, she was fascinated. It almost reminded her of Fire Rock Mountain in Dark Side. 

But then, another movement caught her attention, a movement that a bull in a bullfight might be angered by: the elusive movement of a cloth being waved, or blown back to whip in the wind. She looked up, moving away from the dangerous cavern when she got dizzy from getting up after leaning over on her knees so long to look. She raised an eyebrow. 

There was a man several yards away, partially hidden by the rock Pumyra was behind, although he was out in the open. She moved cautiously to get a better look, but need not have worried about being careful. The man was far too occupied in what he was doing to see her. He was a Thunderian, what kind would not have been discernible normally had she not known who he was, as his head was covered by a spiked battle helmet. His powerful shoulders were covered with a long cloak, that was being whipped around by the wind, and it was this movement Pumyra had seen. He wore very little, only a deep, gold-colored uniform that covered his private areas, and came up in a narrow band over his chest to meet with his cloak. This cloak was held to the rest of his uniform by the insignia of a ThunderCat. "Is that..." Pumyra said quietly to herself, the words ripped from her mouth by the wind. "But that can't be right!" 

The young man's face was handsome. His deep piercing eyes were accented by dark lashes and even darker brows. He was muscular, down to his thighs and lower legs, and he looked no more than twenty-five, _maybe_ thirty. But it had to be him. He held what could only be the terrible Sword of Plundaar. 

But Jaga was an older man not ten years later from then! Pumyra shook her head. Now was not the time to think about this, she had taken too much time already. But still she hesitated. What if he didn't believe her? She supposed she could fight him and take the blade, but Jaga was a high noble. She would be in much trouble for attacking him. Then what? She eyed the blade. 

Though it was a dark and terrible weapon, used only for the purpose of killing and evil, it was a beautiful blade as well. Evil could be beautiful, just as good could be ugly, and this blade _was_ beautiful. Shining in the odd red light that was a combination of Thundera's orange sky and the intense heat of the lava down below, the Sword of Plundaar took on its own glow, as if under its own power. The hilt was in the middle, and sprouting from it were the double blades that made it a somewhat unique weapon, and added to its beauty. It had many sharp edges that swept away from the hilt as they tapered to the ends. It _did_ have its own power Pumyra realized. Even she could feel it. No wonder this was a weapon highly sought by the forces of evil. 

And now as she stood behind the rock that was almost too hot to touch, Pumyra could also understand how this sword, having sunk into the lava and perhaps getting lodged in the core of their beloved home, could destroy an entire planet. 

As Jaga raised the mighty blade above his head in one hand, Pumyra's eyes widened, and she began one desperate lunge... 

It was Pumyra's fascination with the chasm, and then the man with the stolen blade, that had allowed this to happen. Pumyra yelped as a pair of hands grabbed her and pulled her back behind the rock. "Lynx-O!" Pumyra was both very surprised and very angry. "Where did you come from?" 

Lynx-O was also angry, but he too had watched the blade, felt its power more than Pumyra had. He had also felt a great, crushing sorrow as he realized that now he would have to stand by, even watch perhaps, the one event that had caused Thundera to be destroyed occur. "Pumyra, listen to me. I know what day it is. I figured you would be here. I felt it." He sighed "I thought you had agreed. You must not interfere with this! Remember what I told, you Pumyra! Remember! If you prevent this, or even change it in any way, you could change millions of things across the universe! Many more could die than did originally, Pumyra, _including_ Thundera." 

"But Lynx-O! I could stop him. I could stop him!! Then we could save our people, Lynx-O, maybe even then you wouldn't have been blinded...well of course you wouldn't have, because you lost your eyes when Thundera was destroyed! Lynx-O, please!" She glanced desperately over to Jaga's young form. 

"No, Pumyra. I cannot." He lowered his head. "You must try to understand." He had his hands lightly on her shoulders, and was ready to hold her back physically if he had to. It was a good thing, as she had tried to bolt. He grabbed he and pinned her as gently as he could without hurting her. 

"NO!" She fought him with a strength she didn't know she had, but Lynx-O was the stronger, only barely. He held on. "Jaga! No!!" Pumyra yelled, trying to get the young lord Jaga's attention. 

Standing on the brink of the Chasm, Jaga's head turned sharply at what he had thought was someone calling him, but he saw no one; Pumyra and Lynx-O were well hidden from view. He turned back, focusing his attention on the evil weapon whose destruction he intended to author. He himself felt a deep trepidation at what he was about to do, but fully expected it. When dealing with a blade of this magnitude of evil, it was to be expected. 

If only he knew the real reason for his uneasiness. 

Pumyra had managed to squirm enough to turn around and start beating on Lynx-O's chest. "Let me go, let me go Lynx-O!" she cried. Lynx-O only took the abuse silently, and finally Pumyra collapsed sobbing once more into her old friend's arms. "I'm sorry, Lynx-O...I'm sorry I know you're right, I know you are! but all our people...my family and friends, and all those innocents..." 

"I know Pumyra." Lynx-O held her tightly, now not because he feared she would try and break away again, but because he wanted to comfort her, no matter how impossible the task may be. And he needed the comfort himself . "I know." He said no more, as words would have been useless, but only held her. 

After a moment, as Snarfer finally caught up to them, huffing and puffing from running the while way, the two felines turned around to look at Jaga. They were just in time to see him hurl the accursed Sword into the Chasm and walk away, the deed accomplished. 

Well he did it, Pumyra thought numbly. It's happened again, and now there's no taking it back. Thundera had another chance, and now it was too late. She could have saved the world, maybe, but she knew Lynx-O was right. 

It didn't make it any better. It didn't still the screams of the Thunderians as the planet superheated, and then blew, leaving only small fragments of the planet to drift into space, and the escapees roaring through it. But even they had been destroyed mostly too, hadn't they? By the Mutants. She buried her face in Lynx-O's uniform. 

Had Lynx-O been able to cry, he would have wept as well. But he could not. "Come on Pumyra," he said in a low voice. "Let's go." Heads bowed, they also walked away. 

*** 

Many many years later, in the future, where a New Thundera now orbited more or less peacefully in space, Cheetara was being brought to a certain vulture's lab instead of the work yard. She knew she could count on good old Snarf. They would put their plan into action that very night. 

Part 18 

Part 20 

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	20. Chapter 20

20 

Wilykat rolled away from Ma-Mutt as his sister jumped at him, bowling him over onto the stone of the floor. He put a hand to his arm which was bleeding; not badly, but bad enough to anger him and to hurt. "Dumb dog!" He got out a light capsule and exploded it next to the dog's face, who made a startled yipping sound and recoiled. "Run, Wilykit!" The twins ran. 

When he got his senses back, Ma-Mutt followed the retreating Thunderkittens back to the main chamber, where the ThunderCats were still fighting the mummy. They were winning slowly. Even with as many of them as there were, it was a slow battle, as Mumm-Ra was rested well and strong and in his own domain. They were the intruders there. 

*** 

"Why have you brought me here?" Cheetara demanded, as a pair of guards took her into the lab where Snarf sat on a table, his legs secured to it. She frowned. 

"You are here for experimentation," the vuilture told her. "Now be quiet. Guards, secure her to that chair over there please while I finish this test on this one." The two wolves nodded their assent and strapped Cheetara into the chair then left. "Boy you're filthy, cheetah. I'll have to wash you first and get rid of that pile of rags you're wearing." 

Cheetara narrowed her eyes. "Over my dead body!" 

The vulture chuckled. "That may be the case if you're not careful." Ignoring her for the moment, he turned his attention back to the Snarf. Taking a vial of a blueish liiquid from a cupboard, he filled a hypo with it, and before Snarf could do anyhting about it, plunged the syringe into his arm and injected it. Both he and Cheetara gasped. "What was that?!" Snarf cried, putting his hand to his arm. 

"That was only a sedative. I told you I am trying out some of our common drugs on you and noting the results." He shoved him back down and secured him. Taking a nylon band, he secured it around Snarf's arm to keep track of blood pressure, and affixed a monitor to take care of pulse. He would record both as the serum took effect. 

Snarf had little to say, as it was a fast acting serum, and his eyes drooped closed. At least he couldn't feel his pains, he thought distantly as he drifted into unconsciousness. 

The bird then went over to Cheetara and removed her clothing as he had threatened. He was a scientist, who had seen dozenzs of nude test subjects before, and was not fazed, either by her naked body or her growled protest. He took a long handled scrubbrush, lathered it with an antibacterial soap, and proceded to wash her down with it. 

Oh, how humiliating, Cheetara thought, as she was in the process of being cleaned like someone's pet dog or something. However, she did have to admit that it felt good, although it hurt in the spots where Graydon had beaten her. She was dirty and was glad to be clean again. 

Except now she was cold. 

The vulture rinsed her down, then brought a large fan over and set it up in front of her. He turned it on, making sure the heat was on beforehand; he didn't want his test subjects getting pnuemonia. "Now you two behave," he said to them with a smirk, and left the room. 

Right, Cheetara thought. Snarf's in a condition to cause trouble all right. She glanced to the unconscious Snarf and sighed. She spent a moment letting the warm air dry her before checking out her retraints. Leather, and they were all wet. Wet leather felt very uncomfortable. She twisted her wrist, and her eyes widened to see that the leather gave a little bit! It wasn;t much, but... 

...better do somehting before they were dried out. 

With all her strength, Cheetara strained against the bonds that held her to the chair. She twisted and pulled, feeling a sharp pain as she sprained her wrist, but she could feel the leather stretching just a little bit. Just a little bit more... There! Cheetara pulled the injured hand away, and released the buckle of the other strap. A quick unfastening job and her legs were free. 

Wrapping her hand quickly with a bandage she found in a drawer, and finding a lab coat to put on over herself, she then went to Snarf and released him, although he was not yet awake. She would have to carry him until he was, but not yet. For now he could stay where he was. Cheetara crouched by the door and waited. 

The scientist never knew what hit him. He opened the door, saw the Snarf and noticed that the cheetah was missing, but before he could sound the alarm, he was lying on the floor, as unconscious as Snarf was. He had a nice lump forming already on his bald skull. 

With a look of disgust on her face, Cheetara stood and slammed the door shut again. She dragged the vulture over to the chair xhe herself had been bound to and strapped him in. As an after-thought, she wrapped some tape around his beak. See how _he_ liked it! 

She went over to Snarf an shook him gently. "Snarf?" Nothing. A little more urgent of a shake and still he didn't awaken. Cheetara rummaged around in a few more drawers and found some smelling salts. 

That worked. Plundaarian smelling salts were far morwe pungent than those used by other races, and Snarf sat bolt upright, his eyes wide. "Hey, easy Snarf. It's jut me." 

Snarf groaned. "Oh....that was not fun." 

"I'm sure it wasn't. Look I've got this mad scientist captured, I need to know where that superweapon of his is." 

"Oh, snarf, it's in the center of the prison underground somewhere, at least that's where the control center for it is. He controls everything from there." 

"All right, then we have to get there then. Do you know where that is?" 

"I have no idea." 

"Perfect." Cheetara sighed and looked around. "Okay...we'll just have to look." She set Snarf on the floor. "Stick with me, stick close. We're going weapon hunting." 

Scampering at Cheetara's bare feet, Snarf looked around and listened with his keen hearing. "Coast's clear so far," he whispered. 

"All right, come on." Cheetara crouched low and skulked down the hallway, also alert for trouble. The buzzard must like it quiet around his lab, Cheetara thought. Either that or clean. It's the cleanest place _in_ this dump. He probably doesn't want the other Mutants smelling it up. I sure as hell wouldn't. 

At a corner, Cheetara listened, and held Snarf back from going any farther. She peered around the corner. Okay, two of them at the door out of this infernal lab area... It shouldn't be too hard to take them out. To take them out without setting off the alarm, now _that_ would be the trick. 

The ThunderCat made a "stay here" gesture towards Snarf as she crept forward. She had no weapons; they had stun sticks. Hardly fair, but then this whole deal was a desperation act. It was nothing or everyhting today. 

The stealthy cheetah almost made it with no problems. But one of them happened to turn around. his eyes widened, and that's when all hell broke loose. 

One of the guards, a wolf Mutant no less, pushed a button that sent an alarm blaring through the hallways, while the other, an abnormally large vulture, jabbed at her with the stun stick. Cheetara grabbed the stick far enough to avoid the shock and began to fight with him for it. He was strong, stronger than she would have expected though, and it wasn't easy. 

"Oh no, snarf snarf," Snarf wailed quietly. He would have to get into the fight no matter how much he still hurt. 

Scampering on all four, he jumped at the feet of the second guard, wrapping his tail around his legs. The wolf fell with a curse and began to fight the thing on his legs. "What the hell! Get off me you furry freak!" All Snarf did was tighten his hold so Cheetara could take care of her adversary then save her small friend. 

The cheetah did succeed finally getting ther guard into a choke hold and keep her grip until he passed out. Then she used his own cuffs to cuff him to the door. She also took his stunner, set it to high, and nailed the other guard. 

Both now out cold she cuffed them together and threw the second stunner down the hall. "Good job Snarf, thanks. Come on, let's go!" She picked up the Snarf and whisked him down the hallway at top speed, blowing by several startled guards so fast they could not even see what she was. She ran until she came to a hallway where she saw no Mutants, and where she thought she could stop safely. "I think...I think they're all...in the lab area...still looking for us," Cheetara panted. 

"I think so too," Snarf said with a groan. "Boy I hope we find it soon. My body can't take much more fighting." 

"I hope so too, Snarf." 

The pair very carefully had a look around. They weren't where they needed to be, but they were close. Cheetara _felt_ they were going in the right direction, she just had a hunch. Her sixth sense may or may not have had anyhting to do with it, but as they wandered, they finally found what they were looking for. "Well...I'm betting that's it," Cheetara said, pointing to a large, heavy door with two guards standing outside it with blaster rifles. 

"Gee you think?" Cheetara gave the Snarf a dirty look for his sarcasm then laughed softly. "All right, we have a well guarded door and one stunner. Looks like I'll have to find something else to use here." She looked around. "Stay here." She took off in a blur, and less than a minute later returned with a small stun pistol. 

"Where did you get that?" 

"Well let's just say that there's a very unhappy prison guard slumped over unconscious in his morning meal." 

Snarf laughed. "Good, he deserves a little indignity after what they put us through." He watched intently as Cheetara took aim from around the corner and fired. 

A bright blue beam of energy lanced out to strike the Reptilian on the left, who collapsed to the ground wihtout a sound. His opartner, instantly alert, turned...and that was all he had time to do before he joined his partner. Cheetara ran over and relieved them of their weaons and radios before dragging them down the hall to chain them to a supply closet door. "Boy it's a good thing these guards carry restraints." She made sure their keys were far out of their reach. "All right Snarf, let's get this open...you know how to pick a lock?" 

"No, but let me go get the keys that you threw all over the place." Snarf scampered off. Now why didn't Cheetara think of that? She gave the Snarf a sheepish look as he came back with them in his mouth. "Thanks...okay let's try it out." 

It took a few tries, but they did find a key that opened the door, and they went in. 

Closing the door behind them, Cheetara hit the light switch and looked around. What she saw was no bigger than a walk in closet, with a computer onsole taking up one half of it and a chair in the other. She knew a bit about electronics, but not a whole lot. Fortunately, the console resembled that of the guidance system in Cats' Lair. She could figure it out. "Snarf, make sure the door's locked," she said as she sat down. It was time to go out with a bang. 

Part 19 

Part 21 

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	21. Chapter 21

21 

"...and this one should be the trajectory of the thing, this says it's armed or not..." Cheetara was speaking in a soft, spacey tone that indicated she was talking to herself to sort things out. "Why can't they have this damned thing in Basic?" she said in a louder voice. 

"These guys wouldn't lower themselves to that level," Snarf said. "These Mutants are more arrogant than the Lunattacks ever were!" 

"You're right." Cheetara said, and went back to her musings. 

They had been in there for twenty minutes only when there was a harsh banging. "Come on out of there, feline. You're only making things harder on yourself!" Cheetara scowled and tried to ignore the distracting voice when she heard it tell seomoene else that was apparently there to get the keys. "Snarf, take that chair over there and prop it under the latch. That ahould keep them out for a while. I hope." The chair was metal, and fit snugly under as the Snarf did as she asked. "I've almost got this thing figured out." 

"Ohhh, hurry Cheetara!" Snarf wailed. 

There was a clicking as the key was retrieved and the door unlocked, and then a curse and a rattling as they discovered their makeshift lock. "Come on, cat, you can't possibly help yourself by staying in there!" 

If only he knew, Cheetara thought. "I've got it!" she said. "All right. Mathematics is the same in any language, and luckily the Plundaarians use the same numbering system as we do on Thundera and Third Earth." Cheetara went on to explain what she was doing, and although Snarf understood little of it, he did understand that what she was doing was helping her sort it out for the last time before she tried it. "Okay. I've aimed this hellish thing at a far planet of the system. Lynx-O's note did not say the explosions had to happen here, and from even the brief explanation of what was going on, I don't think it matters _where_ it happens, but _when._ And now is the time." 

*** 

In an endless world of sky, Bengali was half conscious. The young man was almost ready to tear himself apart if only to end the endless fall and stop the red tendrils of madness that were creeeping around his strained mind. He had been able to get enough water from the storms of this world, but he was weakening fast with no food and the exhaustion of being tense the whole time was taking its toll. All he saw was endless blue, sky without land. He tried to sleep as much as he could. That way he did not feel the despair, the horrible thought that he would never leave that awful world, that he would never walk on land again, or even see his friends before he perished for lack of food. And now he was halfway there, in that realm of mental nothingness that was sleep...or by this point simple unconsciousness brought on by exhaustion and hunger. 

*** 

"What now?" Pumyra asked. It was hours after they trio had witnessed Jaga cast the Sword of Plundaar into the Chasm. 

"Now we wait. It's all we can do." Lynx-O had his arm around the puma, sensing her deep sorrow, and feeling his own. But he was better trained in matters of the mind than his younger comrade, and he could deal with it. It was no more pleasant, but he could keep his mind from turning it over and over again. He could do nothing now to prevent what happened, and thinking about it would only hurt him. 

Pumyra nodded numbly. "Lynx-O? Can we just...look around a little? I mean I know you said minimum contact, but still...I'll never see Thundera again." 

Hearing her voice nearly break into a sob, Lynx-O could not say no. If he was correct, this whole incident will have been erased fot lack of a better word, anyway. "Yes. Of course we can. Let's make the most of the time we have." He smiled at her, and he, Pumyra, and Snarfer turned towards the town. 

*** 

"AAUUGH!" There came a cry of pain from Tygra as a powerful blast of red electricity coursed from Mumm-Ra's fingers into his body. He sprawled in the corner, out cold. 

The twins had come onto the scene just in time to se that, and the both of them narrowed their eyes in a nearly identical expression of anger. "Why don't you pick on soemone your own size, Mumm-Ra!" Wilykit demanded. She had her lariat out, an explosives capsule at the ready. Wilykat beside her had done the same. 

"Yeah! Why not attack an unarmed newborn cub while you're at it! You seem to like to bully people!" 

Mumm-Ra sneered at the young ThunderCat. "Such childish insults, Thunderbrat! You seem to be the ones ganging up on _me._" 

"Yeah, after you sent Bengali and the others somewhere into another dimension!" Wilykit counterd. "That was a cowardly attack if I ever saw one! And you know you have natrual powers none of us have. So deal with it!" With that, the young cat leapt, hurling her pellet, her brother a split second behind her. Their timing in a fight was impeccable. 

Both capsules hit their mark, and Mumm-Ra made an angered sound of pain, lashing back out with his weapon of fire, his hands looking now more like flamethrowers. 

Wilykat yelped sharply, his side having been seared by the blasts. 

Wilykit escaped injury as she flipped backwards, executing a gymnastic feat she'd been trying to perfect and only now managed. "All right!" she excmalined with pleased surprise. 

"That's enough!!" Lion-O's voice, commanding as that of an army commander, stopped the action. Even Mumm-Ra paused before turning his disdainful face to him. 

"Ready to surrender, ThunderCat?" he asked in a voice of contemptuous etiquette. 

"Hardly!" Panthro answered him before Lion-O could. He was facing the mummy, a snarl on his face. 

"But we are gonna finish this one way or another!" Lion-O added, and pointed the mighty Sword of Omens at the undead priest. "Hooo! Hoooo! Hooooo!!!" At each cry, the Sword of Omens blasted its power of good at the mummy priest, who shrieked in mingled pain and fury, trying desperately to counteract the energy with his own. The two beams, his brilliant red, the lion's a bright blue, clashed for one moment, before Lion-O's finally overcame the other. There was a large flash of light that sent everyone still standing tumbling across the dusty floor of the chamber, and then silence for one moment. 

After long enough of a time to make Lion-O think the mummy had been struck unconscious like Tygra, Mumm-Ra groaned and stood. "You will pay for that, cub," he growled in a low, nearly inaudible voice. "Ancient Spirits of Evil! Your humble servant Mumm-Ra asks you to give me the power to overcome my enemies!" 

"Stop him, Lion-O!" Wilykat cried, getting up himself and jumping forward to do he didn't know what. 

"Too late!" Panthro cried. Mumm-Ra was _glowing_ blue as the energy coursed through his body. Now seemingly ten feet taller, although his stature had remained the same, he turned around once more. "And now you die, ThunderCats..." 

*** 

"FIRE!" Cheetara screamed, the temptation to yell that too great as she punched the button. There was the unpleasant shriek of an alarm, and a computer voice saying something in Plundaarian that Cheetara hoped meant the miserable thing had launched. It shouldn't be more than a few minutes. "Well," she said, turning her strained face toward Snarf. "It's done...now all we can do is wait..." She turned her head sharply as the banging grew louder, and there was a shriek of bending metal as the chair began to buckle under the constant onslaught... 

*** 

Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Snarfer were walking through a park, where Pumyra was simply looking; watching the cubs playing, seeing the colors of the tres, the brilliant summer greens and the less common deep reds and oranges of some of the foliage. Suddenly, Lynx-O stopped and boweed his head, deep chills going through his mind and body. "I feel it is happening," he said quietly. "Whatever will happen, it will happen soon." While Snarfer looked around, keeping respectfully silent, Pumyra took her own last look around, knowing what she was doing was saying good-bye. She clutched Lynx-O and Snarfer's hands and waited. 

*** 

KABLOOOOM! Far, far away from Plundaar, the super-explosive that the avian had been working on in his lab exploded, sending shock waves hundreds of miles in just seconds. Of course they heard nothing on Plundaar, but Cheetara knew when it happened, because a red light flashed on the console, and a grim sounding Plundaarian voice announced something different than what she had assumed was a countdown. Then there was nothing. The weapon that likely would have wiped out New Thundera had exploded harmlessly in space on an icy, unlivable planet. 

"Aha! Now you're in trouble, wretch!" This announcement followed the shriek of metal scraping against the stone floor as the chair was finally bent in half and cast away. Three Mutants barrelled in, no more being able to fit. Cheetara was sure there weer more outside though. 

"Snnaaaarff!" Snarf cried, and jumped into Cheetara's arms. The ThunderCat began to back into the corner, ready to fight like she'd never fought before, but a strange thing began to happen. She felt dizzy, and could see that Snarf and the Mutants felt the disorientation too. "It's happening!" she screamed, her voice sounding slow and distant. 

*** 

In the Black Pyramid, Lion-O suddenly stopped fighting. Tygra had awakened and joined the brawl once more, and Panthro was fighting with all his might against the strengthened demon. Mumm-Ra might be working on borrowed power, aand would likely spend a long time recovering, but that did them little good at the moment. They were losing! 

But Lion-O suddenly was no longer concerned with that. He'd had a flash of intuition so strong it almost sent him reeling. "Sword of Omens!" he cried, as the other ThunderCats kept Mumm-Ra off of him. "Give me Sight Beyond Sight!" He'd heard a voice, one that sounded like a combination of Jaga and his own father, and many others. It was the voices of all who had ever carried the mighty Sword of Omens, telling him that he must look. 

What he saw made his eyes widen. As Cheetara, Snarf, Bengali, Lynx-O, Pumyra, and Snarfer began to be affaected by the explosions occurring on two diffeerent alignments of the stars in two different times, they were flung into a realm where time had no effect on them. They may as well have been in Lion-O's own time, thus enabling the Sword of Omens to see them, and give Lion-O an insight: they could not return on their own. They had succeeded, in altering the time line, and the spell Mumm-Ra had used had been broken through, but they needed an anchor, something that their bodies would respond to so that they would end up in the right place and the correct time... 

The young lord stepped back ferom the fight, the din of it seeming to be muted as he held his weapon out in front of him. This is how it always happened: a sheen of calm and serenity flowed through his mind as he began the words that he had heard all his life: "Thunder...thunder..." 

"Panthro be careful!" 

"Wilykit, look out!" 

Lion-O heard none of this; the fight had become a mere buzzing of sound to him. "...thunder....ThunderCats, HOOOOO!" 

The fight was finally disrupted when a flash of impossibly bright red emanated from the mighty blade to burst through the roof of the Black Pyramid and soar into the sky. A feral roar, disembodied in the chamber, resounded through the pyramid as the Cat's Symbol was cast into the sky. 

Six ThunderCats felt dizziness and disorientation as they felt a vast, irresistable pull that they could not explain, and their bodies literally faded out of their current exsistances to answer it. 

Part 20 

Part 22 

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	22. Chapter 22

22 

"What happened?" Lynx-O asked. His sightless face was scrunched in a concerned frown. 

From where he was running a routine scan at the computer console of the Tower of Omens, Snarfer turned around and shrugged. "I don't know, Lynx-O, nope, suuure don't. What makes you think something happened?" 

"I-I don't know, Snarfer. I have a feeling that something _extraordinary_ has just happened." The elderly ThunderCat shook his head in bafflement. "It's the strangest feeling." 

Snarfer shrugged. "Well nothing's on the scanners. Want me to contact Cats' Lair?" 

Lynx-O shook his head once more. "No. That's all right, Snarfer. It is likely only my imagination." 

"Right. Well weren't we goiong to replace the pipes in the lower level today?" 

Snapping out of his reverie, Lynx-O said "Yes. Let's get that done." He followed the young Snarf's footfalls and paused to say, "Though for some reason, plastic pipes don't seem like such a good idea..." 

*** 

"Snarf, will you stop pacing?" Cheetara said with a laugh. "You're going to drive me up a wall! 

"I can't help it. There's something wrong!" Snarf rose on his tail and crossed his arms in a gesture of helpless frustration. "And I don't know what!" 

"Snarf, you've checked the scanners a dozen times at least and checked on Lion-O enough for him to be ready to boot you out of Cats' Lair." Cheetara laughed and lay a hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Snarf. You're just uptight today. Why don't you go outside and get some fresh air? It's a warm, beautiful day." 

"Well I guess...maybe I'll go to the Berbil Village and get some candifruit." 

"That's the spirit." Cheetara laughed and shook her head. But...now that Snarf mentioned it...there did seem to be something wrong. The cheetah frowned and tried to put her finger on it, but it eluded her for now. 

*** 

In the Bolkin Village, Wilykit and Wilykat were playing with some of the youths that lived there. They were playing a game of hide-and-seek. 

"Gotcha!" Wilykat declared, but then his facial expression turned to one of puzzlement as he looked, and who he thought was there wasn't. "Hey, what's the big idea?" 

There came a laugh from home base. Wilykit was there along with the three kids they were playing with. All were grinning at them. "I was never there, Wilykat, it was only a practice dummy the warriors use for spear target practice. Don't let-" 

"-your eyes fool you," Wilykit and Wilykat said along with the Bolkin youth. The three Bolkins looked at the twins strangely, as Wilykit and Wilykat themselves exchanged puzzled glances. 

"Um...how did you know what I was gonna say?" the Bolkin boy asked. 

"I-I don't know," Wilykit said. 

"We both just had a really strong bout of deja-vu..." 

"What's deja-vu?" the littlest Bolkin asked. 

"It's when you think something's happened before," an older one said. 

"Boy that's really weird." 

"Yeah," Wilykat said. "I think me and Kit are gonna go home now. Maybe we're coing down with something." He didn't want to admit it, but that had spooked him a geart deal. He'd had the feeling before, but never so strong that he knew something before it was said. 

"Okay, bye, twins..." The three Bolkins watched leave, a strange expression on their faces. It had spooked them as well. 

The ThunderCats slept uneasily that night, but no one knew why. 

*** 

The next day, Lynx-O's feeling of malaise had only deepened, and he asked Bengali if he would not mind going out in the ThuderStike and taking a look around. The pods were already separated, he could take the middle section out alone. He agreed readily enough. 

Twenty minutes later, Lynx-O's startled ears picked up what sounded for all the world like a crash outside the Tower of Omens. After confirming on the Braille board that Bengali had indeed crashed the ThunderStrike, he ran out to see if he was okay. 

"Rowl, I'm all right, Lynx-O," the young ThunderCat said in answer to the lynx's query, climbing out of the vehicle. "I-I don't know what happened...I was taking off when I got this feeling of-of terror! As if I were afraid of heights." 

Lynx-O frowned. "_Are_ you afraid of heights?" 

"No! I mean...at least I never _have_ been! But this time I just couldn't do it. The sight of all that blue up there and the clouds just sent me into a shaking fit...and I lost control of the ThunderStrike." He looked and felt terribly unnerved. 

Lynx-O frowned and tilted his head down, thinking hard. Something _was_ going on, and it wasn't just his imagination. 

"It's all right though, I mean it was just a hard landing. I can get her back into the hangar." 

"It's all right, Bengali, it could have happened to anyone. Why don't you take the Hovercat and keep it close to the ground?" 

"Rowl, good idea." Bengali left, and Lynx-O thought, and thought. 

*** 

"Mumm-Ra?" Lion-O asked. "Hmm. You could be right, Lynx-O. He has been awfully quiet the last few days. I wouldn't be surprised if he _was_ up to something." 

"Maybe we should go to the Black Pyramid and check it out?" Wilykit asked. 

"No, Wilykit," Lion-O said. "We don't know for sure. It could be nothing more than a few weird psychic flashes. If need be, Cheetara can go into a trance and find out. But only if there's reason to think it's necessary. We don't want to cause trouble if it's nothing." 

"You're right, Lion-O. Still its weird...Wilykat and I had a weird incident too." The young feline told her lord about the incident at the Bolkin village, leaving nothing out. 

Lion-O furrowed his brow. "Strange. We will have to keep an eye out." 

Another sleepless night passed for the ThunderCats. The feeling of impending doom refued to leave them. 

*** 

"LYYYYNX-OOOO!" came the screeching, harried, I-am-a-second-away-from- panicking voice from the lower level of the Tower. A little startled, Lynx-O turned away from his Braille board at the sound of four small feet running up the stairs. "Lynx-O!" Snarfer wailed. "The pipes broke down there, and the lower level's flooded!" 

Lynx-O let out a breath he had not realized he had been holding. He turned his sightless eyes to where he normally would have been making eye contact with the young Snarf. He had been without his eyes for a long time now, but had gone many, many more years with it, and was still in the habit of making eye contact, even if he could no longer do so. "Easy, Snarfer, it can be fixed," he said to his young friend. "You can't overreact so much over little things, Snarfer, you had me worried. I thoguht we were under attack, or that you had gotten seriously hurt." 

Snarfer's ears folded down. "Sorry, Lynx-O..." he said in a quieter tone. "But there's a foot of water down there! I mean all the plumbing just...busted!" 

"All right, did you turn off the water?" 

"Well yeah..." 

"Then let's go down and fix it." Lynx-O smiled and started for the stairs. Lynx-O knew the Tower of Omens better than any building he had ever been in. He knew every turn, every distance, every doorway, every piece of furniture, all by estimation and touch, as well as hearing and smell. It was somehting he had learned to do since he lost his sight. He had had to in order to survive, and not be hopelessly dependent upon the others. 

Once down there, Lynx-O sighed. "All the plastic pipes," he said, feeling the damage. "I _thought_ they were a bad idea. Snarfer, don't we have a bunch of metal pipes in the supply closet down here?" Suddenly, Lynx-O stopped short. "I _did_ think these pipes a bad idea! Snarfer, remember a couple of days ago, when we changed all the pipes, I said that using plastic pipes was a bad idea!" 

Snaerfer blinked. "You're right, yessir, yep! I remember you said that...but how did you know?" 

"I don't know...something's very wrong here. Let's go get the pipes from Cats' Lair. I must talk with Lion-O." 

"I was gonna ask how you knew they had the right ones there, but I know they do too." Snarfer looked scared. "What's going on, Lynx-O?" 

The lynx shook his head. "I don't know." As he walked from the control room, he unconsciously veered around a certain spot on the floor, although there was nothing there. Yet. 

*** 

"That's it, Ma-Mutt!" Ma-Mutt barked and jumped up onto his master's leg. Mumm-Ra bent to pet him. "I will not destroy them, my horrid hound. I will simply create a rift in space and time, it would be a simple enough spell, and one that is least likely to backfire on me. And if it is random, if not even I can control where they end up, then how could they return? And I will cast them in...or better yet, set it up so that they do it themselves!" And Mumm-Ra began to search for a spell... 

*** 

Lion-O sighed. Once again, all of the ThunderCats were gathered in the control room of Cats' Lair, talking about the strangeness that had started as a vague feeling and escalated to a shrieking fear. "Cheetara...I'm afraid you'll have to go into a trance. We can't ignore this any longer. If something's up we must know about it. I have an awful feeling that our very lives depend on it." He looked around at the assembled group, the silent Pumyra, the nervous Snarf and the troubled Bengali. They had been talking for hours and nothing resolved...so they thought. Though they didn't know it, by holding this palaver and getting the ThunderCats of the Tower of Omens out of there, they had changed recent histroy. Pumyra, Snarfer, and Lynx-O had been in Thundera by this time the first time around. 

Cheetara sighed and stood. "All right, Lion-O. I will try." Cheetara closed her eyes. 

*** 

Just then, a call came over the radio. The droning, double voice that belonged to the Berbils crackled through it on a frequency that sounded like it might break down at any second. "ThunderCats! This is Roberbill! The Mutants are here, and we are powerless to stop them, oh please heeelp!" 

"No!" Lynx-O cried. "This is a trap!" He knew this with sudden blazing certainty. 

"What?" Panthro said. "Lynx-O, we can't just leave the Berbils to fend for themselves!" 

"No, of course not," Lynx-O said with some urgency. "But still there's something about this call... Cheetara! Go ahead with your vision, let Tygra and myself answer this call." 

Lion-O thought only a moment before nodding. "All right, old friend. But _be careful._" 

"I will." Leaving Cheetara to her visions, Tygra and Lynx-O ran for the hangar. 

Once in the hangar, Tygra ran for the Feliner, but stopped short at Lynx- O's sudden warning cry: "Tygra stop!!" 

The tiger froze, his eyes widnening at the sudden feleing of doom in his mind. "What's wrong, Lynx-O?" 

"Take one, maybe two steps..." The old lynx's voice was tense. Feeling the puzlement from Tygra, Lynx-O nonetheless knew when he complied with his request. There was a sharp outcry of startlement, then disgust. "Tygra?" 

As from a great distance, Tygra's voice came: "Lynx-O! A portal! Portals!! Lynx-O, I'm looking into another world!" At that moment, both Tygra and Lynx-O remembered. They didn't know exactly what happened, but they did know enough. Tygra backed out, then stepped forward again. "Gone...Lynx- O, we must tell Lion-O." 

Lynx-O shook his head. "The Berbils need our help, Tygra. But Cheetara will find out through her visions. Let's go quickly! But be careful. I think there might be more of these." 

*** 

Lynx-O was right, and it was the Mutants that made it known to the ThunderCats what was going on in the Berbil Village. While in the first version of this history, Cheetara and Snarf had ridden to the rescue quickly, this time there was a delay as Lynx-O and Tygra discovered the portal. This changed things a bit, changed the Mutants' positions and timing. 

Tygra saw it. He saw the Mutants attempt the manuever that had caused Cheetara and Snarf to be hurled onto a possible Plundaar of the future, but this time the move wasn't so coordinated. Jackalman nicked Monkian's Skycutter and sent him off course. Monkian's front end lurched into the portal, and he pulled up in time to save himself from being thrown through. Tygra shouted a warning, and he and Lynx-O pulled up as well. 

Cautiously, Tygra tested the air with the Feliner's sensors and found a fading portal. He grinned savagely. "Lynx-O! I rmeember now! I rememeber everyting. We can find the portals!" 

S-S-Slithe, who had not crashed this time around, growled. "Back to Castle Plundaar!" Mumm-Ra would not be happy! 

*** 

Tygra and Lynx-O returned to Cats' Lair to find that Cheetara had gone through her vision. They also remembered everything now; everything. Tygra told Lion-O of the sensory input of the Feliner, and they came up with the solution it had taken them much longer to realize last time. They would find and close all the portals that Mumm-Ra had cast, and then they would seek him out. 

Lynx-O touched Pumyra on the shoulder and knew that she too remembered what happened. He found himself remembering the incident at the Chasm and withdrew his hand. She needed to be alone. 

Things happened quickly from there. The portals were easily enough found and closed, while Mumm-Ra fumed and raged in his pyramid, his cauldron having told him just how they knew. What irked him most of all was knowing that he _had_ succeeded, only to be defeated even in his success. The ThunderCats did indeed pay him a visit, and discovered that the spell could not be cast again. After finding that the book of spells could not be destroyed, they had left Mumm-Ra fuming in anger, retreating to his sarcophagus to attack another day. 

Pumyra had not gone with the others, but had returned to the Tower of Omens to think. Once it was all over, and the others had returned, Pumyra left the Tower of Omens to go to the plains and watch the sunset. She could tell that it would be one of those that she had always loved on Third Earth; the kind where the normally yellow sun was deep red, turning the sky brilliant hues of orange. It was then she could imagine she was on Thundera once more, and she could remember the second chance she'd had there. But now as she watched the summer sun sink below the horizon, she knew Lynx-O had been right. 

She was not glad that her countrymen had died; she was not glad that she had had to stand by and let it happen, but she _was _glad she was there on Third Earth. Pumyra realized how much she would miss the little green and blue planet and its denizens; the Berbils, Warrior Maidens the Wollows and all the other allies they had made here. She knew things were as they should be. Leaving the sun to its endless circle, Pumyra stood and walked for home. 

Part 21 

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